


The Twins

by alexissteele



Category: Animorphs (TV), Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, not Ellimist Chronicles compliant
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-19
Updated: 2015-02-18
Packaged: 2018-03-13 17:14:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 23,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3389747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexissteele/pseuds/alexissteele
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rewrite of #23 The Pretender. Tobias is about to find more family than he can deal with. Who is telling the truth, and who is spinning a web of lies?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Author’s Notes: This fic was my first attempt at fanfiction back in 1999. It has been lying dormant in notebooks and my computer until I pulled it from the Net in 2004. Looking back on the fic about a year ago, I realized that I had a lot of interesting ideas that I wanted to portray in this fic – eventually to become a series – and that I wanted to pick them up again, but I had some major changes that needed to be done to my OC, Shayla. She was a blatant Mary Sue, and now she’s become an attempt to see if I can write a competent OC without her becoming a Mary Sue.
> 
> And, while I will be following more closely to the events that occurred in the book series, I will always see the characters as their TV counterparts. Let’s face it, ladies, the TV series might’ve deviated a lot away from the books, but it definitely gave us some nice eye candy to glance at. I will also be extending the timeline of the story to five years, instead of three. Therefore, the Animorphs have been fighting the Yeerks for over two years.
> 
> Normal speech denoted with “…”. Thought-speak denoted in ((italics)). 
> 
> Each chapter heading will tell you who is narrating this part of the story. If you don't see a character's name in the chapter heading, assume that the character from the previous chapter is still narrating.
> 
> Disclaimer: With the exception of Shayla and any other minor OCs, all the other characters are the property of K.A. Applegate and Scholastic Books. All feedback is greatly appreciated

Prologue: Elfangor

My name is Elfangor. I was once an aristh in the Andalite military. Now I am living peacefully as a species known as human on a planet called Earth. I have made a good life on Earth. I am happily married to my true love, Loren, and I have a good job working in my adopted homeworld’s rising computer industry. I never realized the kind of life I was missing being caught in the middle of an intergalactic war. However, it is on this day that I'm reminded just how much I've taken my existence on Earth for granted for I have been pulled from my peaceful life on Earth by an all-powerful being known as the Ellimist. Now, I am standing in a blinding light, in my former body, listening to the words being spoken to me.

YOU WILL HAVE A SON AND DAUGHTER, ELFANGOR. THEY WILL BE TWINS. THEY WILL ALSO POSSESS VERY SPECIAL ABILITIES FROM YOURS AND LOREN'S UNION. UNLESS YOUR CHILDREN ARE REUNITED BY THEIR SIXTEENTH BIRTHDAY, THEY WILL BOTH LOSE THEIR POWERS FOREVER. BECAUSE THESE ABILITIES STEM FROM LOREN’S FAMILY HERITAGE, YOUR CHILDREN WILL GROW UP VERY DIFFERENTLY FROM EACH OTHER. WHILE YOUR DAUGHTER WILL BE ABLE TO DEVELOP HER ABILITIES AS SHE AGES, YOUR SON WILL APPEAR AS IF HE POSSESSES NO POWERS AT ALL.

At first I couldn't understand why the Ellimist said 'reunited' -- I assumed that my children would grow up with their mother.

_((Is there anything you can do to help them along?))_ I asked him.

I WON'T HAVE TO. THIS WILL ALL OCCUR IN ITS OWN’TIME. ((Why are you telling me this at all?)) TO SHOW YOU THAT ALTHOUGH YOU MUST ACCEPT YOUR DESTINY IN THE UNIVERSE, YOUR TIME ON EARTH WAS NOT WITHOUT ITS OWN REWARDS.

_((What kind of abilities will they possess?))_ I asked, unable to curb my curiosity.

AS A RESULT OF THE ANDALITES' ADVANCEMENTS IN MORPHING TECHNOLOGY, THOUGH THE POWER LAY DORMANT IN YOUR BODY AT THE TIME OF CONCEPTION, YOUR CHILDREN WILL POSSESS A NATURAL MORPHING ABILITY THAT WILL NOT BE HINDERED BY A TWO-HOUR TIME LIMIT. THEY WILL ALSO HAVE THE POWER TO HEAL AND WILL BE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH ONE ANOTHER WITH THEIR MINDS.

With those final words, I was pulled away from the life I knew on Earth and back to my own. Over the years, I never stopped thinking about Loren and my children. I never thought I would ever see my children again. But one fateful night, after a disastrous battle over Earth's atmosphere, I crash-landed near an abandoned construction site. There I saw five human children, and among them was a young boy who looked exactly like me, if my human morph would have been twenty years younger. I knew he was my son, Tobias. I could see the prophecy that was foretold by the lifelines start to unfold. As I was being pulled up to my impending doom by Visser Three, I looked down at the future of Earth and knew that it was in capable hands.

Now, I, Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul, die uttering one final word...

*hope.*


	2. Chapter 1: Tobias

My name is Tobias. I can't tell you my last name or where I live because it would place my life, as well as the lives of my friends, in danger. Let me try to explain. Long story short: Earth is being invaded by a race of parasitic space slugs known as the Yeerks. While they look harmless in their ordinary forms, the Yeerks refuse to remain ordinary. Instead, they control hosts. They enter the host's brain through the ear canal. Once in control, the host is incapable of resisting. The Yeerks have already conquered the Gedds, the Hork-Bajir, and the Taxxons. Now they're after humans. Fortunately for us, the Yeerks have a weakness. Every three days a Yeerk must return to a special pool to absorb Kandrona rays--particles from their homeworld's sun. 

Now, guess who's responsible for saving mankind from permanent enslavement? Yep, that's right. Us. Five human children, more or less (I'll explain later), and one Andalite cadet against the scum of the universe. Us. Jake, Marco, Rachel, Cassie, Ax, and me. 

Jake is the unofficial leader of our group, better known as the Animorphs. I say 'unofficial' because no one really made him the leader, he just sort of fell into the role. Although he says he doesn't want to be the leader, and would gladly switch with any one of us, I think he knows now that he is the leader. Jake is very responsible and out of all of us, in my opinion, has had to do the most growing up in the shortest amount time. Jake is the only one of us who knows what it's like to be a controller, well Cassie does too, but her situation was unique compared to other controllers, but Jake is the only one of us to go through the fugue--the final release of a host from a Yeerk by Kandrona starvation. 

He also has a very stressful home life. His older brother, Tom, is one of them - a controller. Jake eats dinner every night right across from the enemy and worries if one day his parents will be next. Jake is very tall, only about an inch taller than I am, with short, dirt-blond hair, blue eyes, and a muscular build. Jake actually saved my life once, prior to the Animorphs I mean. On my first day of school two years ago I was receiving a swirlie, compliments of the school bullies when Jake walked in. He didn't really order them to put me down. He just told them in this stern tone of voice to put me down, and they did. That's the kind of impact Jake has on people. When not trying to save the world, Jake enjoys playing basketball and video games. 

Then there’s Jake's best friend, Marco. Marco is known as the joker of the group. He tries to find the joke in every situation. He actually came up with the name 'Animorphs', or as he called us "idiot teenagers with a death wish." But Marco's also the one who makes us think about the consequences of our actions before going on missions. His favorite word is 'insane'. But he's really only thinking about the well-being of his father. 

Before the invasion, Marco believed his mother had drowned in a boating accident, but then later discovered that she was the host for Visser One, leader of the invasion of Earth. Marco feels that if anything were to happen to him while on a mission, his father would lose it, again. Marco is short, for a guy. He's also Latino-American. He has a darker complexion than Jake, Rachel, Ax, and I, but a lighter complexion than Cassie. Marco has short, jet-black hair that he likes to plaster to his head with way-too-much hair gel, and brown eyes. Marco is also into video games. He and Jake have been best friends since they were in diapers. 

After Marco, there's Jake's cousin, Rachel. Rachel is very beautiful -- supermodel beautiful. She's also very tall. Rachel is the kind of person who looks like she's walking around with her own personal spotlight shining on her. She also has a lot to deal with at home. Her parents are divorced. She lives with her mother and two sisters, Jordan and Sara. Her father lives on the other side of the country and comes to visit her every other weekend. At least she gets to see her father once in a while. 

Rachel has long, blond hair and blue eyes. She's also very fashionable. One of her favorite pastimes is shopping at the mall. Now you must be thinking, a shopoholic blonde, must not be very smart. Not true. Out of all the Animorphs, Rachel is the fiercest of us all -- the first one to volunteer for a mission. Her favorite saying is 'let's do it', which usually drives Marco crazy. Besides shopping, Rachel is also into gymnastics. 

Rachel's best friend, and our fourth Animorph, is Cassie. Some people can't believe Rachel and Cassie are best friends because they are complete opposites of each other. While Rachel loves wearing the latest fashions, Cassie prefers a plain t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. While Rachel is the first to volunteer, Cassie tends to stay uninvolved until she absolutely has to. Cassie is African-American. She's regular height, for a girl, and has long, black hair that's either pulled back in a fashion all her own or lying softly on her shoulders. 

Cassie is the best morpher in the group. Ax says she has a natural talent for it. A reason for this may be because of Cassie's love of nature. Her love of nature can be contributed to her parents' professions. Out of all of us, Cassie, and possibly Jake, has the most normal households. Cassie's parents are both veterinarians, a career she wishes to pursue herself. Her mother works at the Gardens, a zoological park, and deals with exotic animals, while her father works out of their farmhouse, more commonly known as the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. Most of our meetings are held at Cassie's because we can get our hands, or in my case claws, on a wide variety of animals when a situation calls for it. Cassie is also the person who will lend you her shoulder to cry on and can read all of our emotions. She can even tell when we're lying or hiding something from the rest of the group, including me. 

Our only living Andalite friend in this fight is Ax, short for Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. He was one of the young Andalites on board the Andalite DomeShip that exploded over Earth. I say 'living' because Ax isn't the first Andalite we've encountered. Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul was the first. He was the one who gave us the ability to morph and told us about the Yeerk invasion in the abandoned construction site over two years ago. Elfangor was Ax's older brother. The other Andalite we know is the only Andalite ever to be taken by a Yeerk, and the leader of the invasion of Earth -- Visser Three. 

Ax considers me his shorm, someone an Andalite would gladly trade his life for. Since everyone was friends, or at least knew each other before the invasion, Ax and I have become closer than the rest of others. You're probably wondering what an Andalite looks like, since you probably haven't seen one before. Well, picture a blue deer or centaur with a scorpion's tail, and four eyes, two protruding above his head as stalks. That's Ax. In the Andalite military, he's only an aristh; similar to a cadet in our military, but he is a great friend and warrior to all of us. 

And finally, there's me. I am the living proof to the downside of morphing. There is one major rule to morphing -- never stay in a morph for more than two hours or become trapped in that morph permanently. During one of our first missions, I forgot about that rule. Now I am trapped forever in the body of a red-tailed hawk. This situation was probably the best thing that could've happened to me. I never knew my parents (Marco thought he had it rough) and was shipped back and forth between an uncle who used me as his personal punching bag and an aunt who used me as her personal slave. When I first disappeared, my aunt and uncle never even bothered to look for me when they discovered I wasn't living with the other relative. 

However, after I helped rescue some free Hork-Bajir from the Yeerks, a being known as the Ellimist gave me my morphing powers back, including a human morph of myself. Luckily for me, my human morph seems to grow with me, or maybe it's the Ellimist, I don't really know. It was a year and a half ago that we first encountered the Hork-Bajir, and two years since we met Elfangor. Now I can be human for two hours at a time, unless I want to become a human nothlit, but then I would be out of the fight for Earth. In my human morph, I'm almost the same height as Jake with hazel/brown eyes and shaggy, black/brown hair.  


Before the invasion, I was a nobody and an easy pick for bullies. I was very withdrawn in school and didn't bother to make many friends because I was moved around so much. But now, with this war, I have made a complete turn-around. I'm no longer the introvert that I was. I can't afford to be because it would place my life, as well as the lives of my friends, in danger. Now you've met me and my friends and together we fight the Yeerks to protect planet Earth.


	3. Chapter 3

** Chapter 2: **

On this particular night, we weren't fighting any Yeerks. No, we were sitting in the school gymnasium. Rachel thought it would be a good idea to take a night off from trying to save the world, especially after our recent encounter with David. David was once an Animorph. He found Elfangor's blue box, the morphing cube. After broadcasting over the Internet that he wanted to sell it, Visser Three destroyed his house and made his parents into controllers.

As a result, and for his own safety, we made him one of us. Big mistake. It worked out well, for a while. But since we knew very little about him, we were unsure about his reactions to being face to face with a near-death situation. And that almost proved to be our downfall. David was ready to turn us all over to Visser Three in order to save his own life. Then he turned on us. He almost killed Jake, Ax, Marco, and I, and made life miserable for one of Jake and Rachel's relatives. In the end, we decided to trap David as a nothlit, in the literal form of what he signified to us Animorphs, a rat.

Now I was sitting in the gymnasium, in my human morph. I had just returned from the bathroom where I had demorphed and remorphed into my human form. I had another two hours left. We started out the night at the mall with pizza and Italian food at Sbarros. It's nice to have human food once in a while, especially if your diet usually consists of mice and other rodents, and if Rachel ever discovered the black-outs I’ve been experiencing lately as I hunt, we’d get into another discussion on how she thinks I should stay human for two hours and leave the fight behind, and that’s not what I needed right now. From there we went to the high school, and took our seats in the school’s auditorium. We were sitting in the front row, right at center stage.

We were at the high school’s annual spring talent show. Rachel wanted to see Melissa Chapman perform her latest gymnastics routine, and be able to give her some moral support. We watched Melissa's performance. I thought it was good, but since I don't know much about gymnastics, I couldn't really give an honest account on the technicality or perfection of the performance. If only Melissa realized that her father was one of the most important controllers in the Yeerk organization — Vice-Principal Chapman.

Then we heard some bands and saw some dance routines. We also saw a magic show. Boy could my friends and I show them a magic trick. The emcee was just about to end the program when a stagehand gave him a note.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it seems we have one last minute entry. Please give a warm round of applause for Shayla Cooper who will be singing Whitney Houston's "The Greatest Love of All"," he announced.

Everyone in the audience waited for newcomer to make her appearance on stage. When she finally did, I immediately felt a strange connection to her. It was as if I knew her from somewhere. I shoved the feeling aside. The girl walked up to the stool situated at center stage and sat down. She had soft brown hair lying just above her shoulders and was about Marco's height. Then she started to sing. Whoa. Her voice was so captivating. It was so sweet and comforting to listen to. And, in a strange way, I felt as if she was singing the song directly to me.

As Shayla was finishing her song, I took a moment to look above her. And the moment I did, I watched as the cable holding a lighting fixture broke away and started to fall towards the stage.

"Watch out!" I shouted.

Thanks to my early warning, Shayla was able to leap out of the way just in time. That got everyone's attention.

"Whoa. How did that happen?" Jake interjected.

"I don't know," Cassie responded.

"That girl was amazing," Marco exclaimed.

"Only you would think about that now," Rachel interjected.

"If it hadn't been for Tobias, Shayla would've been killed," Jake pointed out. "What made you look up?"

"I don't know," I answered.

I took that moment to look back up at the stage and discovered that Shayla was gone.

"Where’d she go?" I asked.

"She was probably rushed off-stage," Rachel said nonchalantly.

"I'll be right back," I told them.

I made my way up to the stage. I looked everywhere backstage, but she wasn't there. That was strange. I made my way back to the group.

"Did anyone else find it strange that she just sort of appeared? She wasn't even scheduled to perform," I inquired.

"Not really. This happens every year. Last minute acts are always being added to the talent show. Everyone usually expects at least one or two," Rachel explained.

"Tobias, how much time do you have left?" Cassie asked.

I looked down at the watch Rachel had given me the previous Christmas.

"About an hour. I demorphed in the bathroom when we got here," I responded.

Jake looked at me like I had just committed a mortal sin.

"Tobias, you know you're not supposed to do that. What if someone had walked in while you were morphing?" Jake lectured to me.

"They didn't. I locked the door," I told him.

Just then, the emcee came back out and asked that all audience members leave the gym. We followed along with the other people. As we left the gymnasium, I was really perplexed. Who was this girl?


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 3:**

The next day we met at Cassie's barn for a meeting. We were still waiting for some other people to arrive. I was sitting up in the hayloft, in my hawk body. I am often the lookout since I can see for miles.

_((Did anyone see that girl Shayla today?))_ I asked. Ever since we left the talent show last night, I hadn’t been able to get Shayla off of my mind.

"I didn't see her, but with it being the weekend and all, that doesn’t really mean anything," Rachel answered.

_((Who's this Shayla?))_ Ax asked.

_((She's this girl from the talent show last night,))_ I told him.

Ax didn't go to the show last night due to safety reasons. If you think it's hard trying to hide in a bathroom while morphing a hawk body, try hiding a horse or deer.

"Yeah, she was almost splattered by a light fixture." Marco, of course.

"Can we please get back to the business at hand?" Jake demanded.

_((Here comes Erek,))_ I announced.

Erek may look like an ordinary human being, but he's not. He's from an android race known as the Chee. Erek is a member of the Sharing, the front organization for the Yeerks. Since Erek is an android, he can't be controlled; therefore he's a spy on the inside. A very good one I might add. Erek's race developed a holographic program millennia before man could build fires. That's how old Erek is.

"What's up Erek?" Cassie asked.

"Right now, nothing. At least, nothing they're telling lower ranking controllers about. The Yeerks have been keeping to themselves. They are only talking to the highest ranking controllers. Unfortunately, my Yeerk is not one of them," Erek announced.

"No, but Tom's is. He's been moving up fast in the ranks. They must be planning something huge if they're keeping this quiet. Just keep your ears open Erek. As soon as you get any information, let us know. Until then, everyone lie low and relax for a while. We've had too many close calls lately," Jake clarified.

"That's the best mission you've ever given," Marco shouted.

"I kinda have to agree with him," Rachel followed.

"All right. Score one for Marco," Marco continued.

"Shut up. Just don't get used to the idea of me agreeing with you. It probably won't happen again," Rachel interjected.

"Okay everybody, go home," Jake said, breaking up the soon to come fight.

With that, we all left in our separate directions, except for Jake who stayed behind to help Cassie with her chores. They sort of like each other; though they're too scared to admit it. As I started flying back to my meadow, I saw her. Shayla. What was she doing here? I felt that sudden urge again that I knew her. Why does she appear all of a sudden? She was walking away. I followed her until she came to a house that was across the street from Rachel's. Who was this girl?


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 4:**

The next morning I awoke at the crack of dawn. I started out to find my next meal. I found a few field mice. I grabbed one. It never knew what hit it. I devoured it and returned to my favorite perch. After a few minutes of just sitting there, I saw her again. Shayla. She was walking towards my tree. She was also looking above her, as if she was looking for something, or someone. She walked right up to the tree I was perched on and looked up. Right. At. Me!

"You can come down now. I know who you are...Tobias," she said.

At first I didn't acknowledge her presence. I thought maybe she'd think I was just another hawk.

"Please, don't try to pass yourself off as another hawk. I can tell the difference. I can feel a human presence inside that hawk body. So, come on down. I promise I won't hurt you," she continued.

I still sat there. I was completely shocked, and scared. If she knew my name and that I was trapped as a hawk, then what else did she know about me? What frightened me more was I didn't even know if she was a controller or not. If she was a controller and could see through me, then freedom, as my friends and I knew it, was over.

Yet, somehow, I knew she wasn't a controller and I knew that I could trust her. I took a chance and flew down to the ground. Another strange feeling came over me. It told me to morph. And something told me that she wouldn't be surprised by the sight of a hawk turning into a human being.

Again, I took a chance. It took a few moments. I felt my feathers melt into the pinky flesh of my former self. I grew four times my actual height. My beak softened into my mouth and nose. In a few moments, I was human again. And, as I suspected, Shayla wasn't frightened by what she saw. In fact, she was impressed and curious.

"So, you can change into animals too?" she asked.

"Why? Can you?" I inquired.

"Yes, since the age of eight," she continued.

"Who are you? How is that even possible? And, how did you know my name?" I posed.

She began to explain. "As you probably remember from the talent show, my name is Shayla. I just moved here this weekend to live with my new foster family. Since I’ve been in this town, I have felt this unending urge to locate someone, someone important to me. That person, apparently, is you.”

I was stunned. “Why me?”

Shayla shrugged. “I don’t know. You’ll probably think I’m completely out of my mind, but I've never been what one would call a normal child. I have special powers that I thought no other human possesses, until I saw you morph just now. Since I’ve been here, I have been feeling your presence around town. In some parts it was very vague, but it was always there.

“As such, I’ve been pretty distracted by what was happening around me. My foster parents took me to the talent show in hopes that it would get me out of the funk they thought I was in, as well as hoping I could meet some new people before registering at school today.

“During the performance, for the first time, your presence was nearly blinding, which meant that you had to be somewhere close by. As I was watching the different acts perform, my foster sister kept urging me to perform a song since she knows that I like to sing. At first I wasn't going to, but I thought it might be a way to see if you were in the audience somewhere. That's when I went up to the stagehand and asked him if he would accept a really late entry. At first he hesitated, but when my foster sister intervened, he changed his mind. As the fixture came down, I was frozen in place. If it wasn't for you, I would've been killed. After the fiasco was over I tried searching the audience for the person who had yelled the warning, but was rushed off-stage before I could find you. Before people could start asking me questions, I slipped out the backstage exit.

“Then yesterday, I was walking through the woods, trying to get some fresh air and clear my thoughts, when I sensed your presence again. This time it was vaguer, but as I continued further into the woods, it became stronger. It led me to this tree. Then I started walking home and felt the presence grow stronger as I walked along. I knew you were following me, but didn't want you to know I knew you were following me. So when I reached my foster parents' house, I casually walked inside, but then ran as fast as I could to the window, just in time to see a hawk fly away. I decided last night that I would seek out this presence.

“Then, while I was sleeping, a man who looked like an elderly grandfather came and spoke to me in a dream. He told me to search out a boy named Tobias and that my future depended on it. Haven't you felt the same strange urging in the back of your mind all weekend?"

"Yeah, especially since the night of the talent show, but I usually just pushed the feeling aside. Why is this happening to us?" I inquired.

PERHAPS I CAN ANSWER SOME OF YOUR QUESTIONS.

At that point, the Ellimist appeared.

"That's the man from my dream," Shayla interjected.

YES SHAYLA. I'M GLAD YOU FOLLOWED MY DIRECTION.

"I should've known it was you who was in her dream. What do you want now Ellimist?" I demanded.

I JUST WANTED TO INTRODUCE YOU TO SOMEONE. TOBIAS, MEET YOUR TWIN SISTER, SHAYLA.

"Twins!" we both shouted at the same time.

YES. NOW WE MUST HURRY.

"Why? How can you be certain we are related?" I asked.

ALLOW ME TO SHOW YOU.

In a flash, we were no longer in the woods, but in another dimension. The Ellimist showed us a section of the dimension filled with millions of golden strings.

THESE THREADS REPRESENT THE LIFELINES OF MILLIONS OF SPECIES. HERE ARE YOURS AND SHAYLA'S.

We were shown a section of the lifelines. There were two lifelines. They could only be my parents. First, I saw my father's lifeline separate from my mother's. Then, shortly after the two new lifelines were created, they, too, were separated from each other.

AS YOU CAN SEE, YOUR LINES WERE SEPARATED’SHORTLY BEFORE YOUR SECOND BIRTHDAY.

"Why?" Shayla asked sadly.

I’M AFRAID THESE TIMELINES DO NOT GIVE EXPLANATIONS, THEY ONLY SHOW WHEN AND HOW LIFELINES ARE CONNECTED. I'M SORRY.

"I want to see more proof," I demanded.

VERY WELL. CONTINUE WATCHING YOUR LIFELINE TOBIAS.

I did. I watched as my lifeline continued to journey forth. Then, I saw what the Ellimist wanted me to see. Five lines united by a far-away line.

"Holy...." I started.

YES TOBIAS. THAT IS THE NIGHT YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS MET ELFANGOR. CONTINUE ON.

The lines intertwined with each other and picked up another. Ax. Then, one more line joined together and separated again. David. Again, another line joined, but this one stayed, and I looked back at the lines that formed at our births, and it was the same line. It was true. She was my sister.

"Okay, I'm convinced. Wait. What's that?" I interjected.

I was just able to catch a glimpse of the future. I saw three more lines join with our group. I couldn't identify who though. Suddenly we were back in the woods again, and it looked as if no time has passed at all. I couldn't say I wasn't surprised.

FOR SHAME, TOBIAS. NO PEEKING INTO YOUR FUTURE.

"Okay, so you've reunited us. What else are you up to?" I demanded.

"What do you mean Tobias?" Shayla asked.

"I know the Ellimist all too well. What else do you have up your sleeve?" I continued.

WE HAVEN'T MUCH TIME.

"Much time for what?" I asked.

WITHIN SHAYLA ARE CERTAIN ABILITIES THAT YOU ARE DESTINED TO HAVE AS WELL. IF YOU DON'T PERFORM THIS CEREMONY TODAY, BOTH YOU AND SHAYLA WILL LOSE YOUR ABILITIES, FOR YOURSELVES AND FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS, FOREVER. DO YOU KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT?

"Sort of. Shayla was starting to explain it to me when you interrupted. Why must we perform the ceremony now?" I said.

BECAUSE THE CEREMONY MUST BE PERFORMED BEFORE YOUR SIXTEENTH BIRTHDAY.

"That's in three days," Shayla announced.

I quickly looked away as I blushed. I'm glad she knew when our birthday was, because I had completely forgotten when it was. Probably since the last birthday party anyone had for me was when I was five.

YES. NOW YOU SEE THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS MEETING.

"Wait a minute. Just what sort of abilities are we talking about here?" I inquired.

"Since the age of four, I have been receiving different abilities," she began, "As of now, I am capable of reading and projecting my thoughts into other people's minds, changing into animals, and I’m able to heal people just by touching them with my hands."

THAT SHOULD BE THE EXTENT OF YOUR ABILITIES.

"Why us? What's so special about us that we possess these abilities?" I inquired.

YOU TWO ARE THE PROGENY OF A VERY SPECIAL LINEAGE. YOUR MOTHER WAS ALSO BORN WITH THESE ABILITIES. NO ONE, EXCEPT FOR HER, KNEW OF HER CAPABILITIES, NOT EVEN YOUR FATHER. PLUS, THERE'S SOMETHING ELSE SHAYLA FORGOT TO MENTION. ALONG WITH HER MORPHING POWERS IS THE POWER FOR AN UNLIMITED MORPHING PERIOD, MEANING YOU CAN BE MORPHED AS LONG AS YOU WISH WITHOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF BECOMING TRAPPED EVER AGAIN.

"But that's impossible. No one can return for a morph after two hours," I shouted.

"I can. I do it all the time. My average time in a morph is three to four hours. And I've always returned to my natural form," Shayla announced.

YES. PLUS YOU MUST ALSO REMEMBER THAT THIS IS A NATURAL ABILITY FOR SHAYLA, NOT A TECHNOLOGY-BASED CREATION LIKE YOURS. BUT PLEASE, YOU CAN DISCUSS THIS LATER. WE MUST PROCEED WITH THE CEREMONY NOW.

"All right. I'll go along with it...for now. What do I have to do?" I agreed.

FIRST YOU MUST FACE EACH OTHER AND PLACE YOUR HANDS, PALM TO PALM. NOW, SHAYLA, REPEAT AFTER ME. I, SHAYLA, DO HEREBY TRANSFER THE POWERS OF HEALING, TELEPATHY, AND UNLIMITED MORPHING TO MY TWIN, TOBIAS. MAY HE ACCEPT THESE POWERS WITH HONOR AND WITH THEM, THE RESPONSIBILITY THAT HAS BEFALLEN ME. MAY THESE ABILITIES PROTECT AND GUIDE HIM THROUGH LIFE.

"I, Shayla, do hereby transfer the powers of healing, telepathy, and unlimited morphing to my twin, Tobias. May he accept these powers with honor and with them, the responsibility that has befallen me. May these abilities protect and guide him through life," she repeated.

GOOD. NOW, BRACE YOURSELVES. AT THE MOMENT OF TRANSFER, ALL OF YOUR MEMORIES WILL BE TRANSFERRED TO THE OTHER SIBLING. TOBIAS, REPEAT AFTER ME. I, TOBIAS, DO HEREBY ACCEPT THE POWERS OF HEALING, TELEPATHY, AND UNLIMITED MORPHING FROM MY TWIN, SHAYLA. WITH THESE GIFTS, I ACCEPT THE RESPONSIBILITY THAT HAS BEFALLEN HER. I HEREBY PROMISE TO UPHOLD THE RESPONSIBILITY MY TWIN HAS TAKEN ON.

"I, Tobias, do hereby accept the powers of healing, telepathy, and unlimited morphing from my twin, Shayla. With these gifts, I accept the responsibility that has befallen her. I hereby promise to uphold the responsibility my twin has taken on," I repeated.

After the last word was out of my mouth, I felt a strange surge flow through my body. Was it possible? Could this little trick of the Ellimist's be working? For each ability I felt a different energy flow through me. When it reached the unlimited morphing stage, I felt the same sensation that flowed through my body when I first became a _nothlit_ and then a few moments, I felt the same sensation again. After five minutes, the process was complete. I opened my eyes -- not realizing I had closed them -- to find myself lying on the ground with Shayla staring at me.

"Ow. My head. What's wrong with me?" I asked.

YOU ARE EXPERIENCING A TEMPORARY SENSORY OVERLOAD FROM YOUR NEWLY ACQUIRED ABILITIES. WITH TIME, YOUR SISTER WILL BE ABLE TO TEACH YOU HOW TO SUPPRESS YOUR ABILITIES. MY WORK HERE IS DONE. YOUR LEGACY HAS BEEN PASSED ON’TO THE NEXT GENERATION AS PROMISED, BELOVED.

And with that, he disappeared. After he left, I looked over to see Shayla sitting on a stump, sobbing.

"Shayla, what's wrong?" I asked.

Without warning, Shayla bolted up from her seat and hugged me, hard. For the longest time, she kept mumbling into my shoulder, “I’m so sorry.”

“Hey, hey,” I soothed her as I wiped away the tears streaming down her face, “Whatever it is you suddenly feel the need to apologize for, it’s forgiven.”

She looked at me as if I had grown a second head. "Why are you always so calm? How could you live like that, being shuffled back and forth between an uncle who abused you and an aunt who used you as a slave?" she demanded.

"You learn to survive," I told her.  “Besides, is it any different than being shipped around from foster family to foster family? At least you weren’t rejected by family.”

She hesitated. “Well, I guess not. I never thought the life I’ve had would be more preferable than yours.”

"It’s gotten better," I contended.

“Living as a bird was more preferable to living as a human?” she asked in wonder.

I nodded. “At first it was. Then, when the Ellimist gave me back my morphing powers, I could’ve given up the morphing power, and stayed human, but then I’d be leaving my friends in danger, and that’s something I’d never be able to forgive myself for, if anything were to happen to them.”

"That's another thing we have to deal with now," she said.

"What?"

"What are your friends going to do to me? Are they going to accept me after what happened? I take it this Ellimist, whoever he is, isn't going to show all of them that dimension to reassure them about me," she continued.

I realized that Shayla was talking about our recent encounters with David.

"That's up to them to decide," I replied.

"This may seem hard to believe, but...I sort of knew about the invasion before today."

"How?" I asked.

She nodded. "I think my last foster parents were controllers."

"Why do you think that?" I asked.

“Well, I came home from school early one night, and heard them talking on the phone to their superiors. I snuck back out the door, and tried to pretend that I hadn’t interrupted their conversation. I thought I had convinced them, but the next thing I knew, they announced that things weren’t working out and sent me back to the children’s home,” Shayla explained.

Shayla looked down at her watch. It was 6:45. We had spent the last hour just talking to each other.

"Oh no," she interjected.

"What?"

"I'm supposed to start school today. My foster parents have already left for work. If I don't show up at school, my foster sister will rat me out. She already has it in for me. We have to go right now," she explained.

"Hey, relax. We’ll figure things out," I calmed her down. “C’mon, let’s get you to school.”

"Do you really think your friends will accept me, whether they believe us or not?"

"Why wouldn't they? You're a nice, caring person. Besides, they accepted me with open arms. What makes you think they won't for my little sister?" I said.

"How do you figure you're the eldest?" she demanded.

"I don't, but I've always wanted a younger sister to protect. And until we find out otherwise, you're the youngest. Oh no."

"Now what?" she returned.

"Look at me. I can't show up to school like this."

I was wearing the morphing outfit I'd managed to incorporate when I first regained my morphing powers back from the Ellimist. It consisted of a way-too-small t-shirt, spandex shorts, and no shoes.

"You can't morph clothing?" she asked.

"No, why? Can you?"

"Yes, it took me a couple of years to learn, though. I'll show you and your friends later. Until then, we'll just have to return to your uncle's house and get you some clothes, unless you have a stash somewhere else?"

I shuttered at the thought of returning to my uncle's house. But, at the same time, I could finally get my stuff and get out of that house forever.

"All right...let's go," I decided.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From this chapter onwards, there will also be periods of telepathy written. Telepathy will be shown by ((bold-italics)).

**Chapter 5:**

We walked out of the woods and started on our trek towards my uncle's subdivision. When we arrived, I found it wasn't very hard to try to sneak back in. My uncle had left the screen door open last night. He was probably too drunk to remember to close it. I'm surprised he hasn't been broken into yet. We snuck up into my old bedroom. Most of my stuff had been moved, but there was still some things left in the closet. As I looked at my clothes, I was worried about whether or not they would fit anymore. I found an old outfit of Jake's that he'd let me borrow two years ago and put it on. While I was searching for my secret hiding place that held all my valuables, Shayla was trying to salvage what was left of my wardrobe. My secret hiding spot held my most personal possessions, including a picture of my parents; at least I hoped they were my parents. I brought out the picture and showed it to Shayla.

"Does this picture look familiar to you?" I asked.

"Yes, I have an identical picture on my night stand," she answered.

Shayla stared at the picture. "I sometimes wonder what our parents were like. Didn't you?" she continued.

"Of course. When I was younger, I kept wishing that perhaps they were still alive somewhere and that someday they would return and take me away from my aunt and uncle. But that never happened, obviously." I stuffed the picture into a backpack I had kept hidden from my uncle. The backpack also contained, the last time I checked, $350. I was too frightened to put any money I'd gotten into the bank because, as my legal guardian, my aunt or uncle to go into the bank and take out whatever they wanted, usually wiping out my account. Then I stuffed the clothes Shayla had picked out in the backpack too. Just as we were about to walk out the door, I heard a creak in the floorboards. My uncle was up.

"Come on. Let's get out of here," I demanded. I grabbed Shayla's arm and pulled her over to the window. Then I opened the window and had her start climbing down. If my uncle walked in before we were out, I would protect Shayla with all I had left. Years ago I had removed the screen in case I had to make an emergency escape. Luckily my room wasn't too far off the ground. Shayla jumped to the ground and I followed. We ran to the bushes down the street from my uncle's house. After a few minutes of hiding, we started walking towards school. With that, Shayla and I strolled towards the entrance of the school. Then, suddenly, Shayla stopped.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Where's my necklace?"

"What does it look like?" I replied.

"It's a 14 karat gold chain with a dragon pendant surrounded by two dolphins," she described. I searched the ground for it. Suddenly, my eyesight sharpened. I couldn't handle it. I quickly covered my eyes and blinked owlishly until my eyesight returned to normal. "Ow!"

"What? What?" she asked.

"I don't know. All of a sudden, my eyesight just grew sharper. And I mean sharp, like my vision was when I was a hawk. By the way, your necklace is about thirty meters back that way."

"This is interesting. I think you might be acquiring another ability. Something to help you compensate for the years you lived as a hawk."

"But, didn't the Ellimist say we wouldn't acquire anymore?" I asked.

"What would he know about this?"

"I don't know. Has this ever happened to you? Acquiring an ability that wasn't supposed to be there, I mean?"

For a long time, Shayla was silent. "I wouldn’t know. All of the abilities I’ve learned over the years aren’t necessarily powers that a human is supposed to have, if you know what I mean. All of this is uncharted territory. Do you think it could be this Ellimist of yours again?”

"Possibly. I mean, I've heard of people having enhanced senses, usually in response to losing one of them. Like a blind person having a heightened sense of hearing or touch. Let me try something. I'm going to see if my other senses are enhanced too," I concluded.

"Okay, I'll run over to my necklace. I'll whisper something. Tell me if you hear it," she said.

"All right."

Shayla ran back towards her necklace. Then, as clear as a bell, I could hear her whisper. "Can you hear me?"

_**((Yes. Whoa. Here comes another one.))** _

_**((It's telepathy. Don't worry. I think you'll be used to it. It's very similar to thought-speak,))**_ she explained. 

_**((Well, then, I should be a natural.))** _

Finally, Shayla made her way back to me.

"Well, we know you have enhanced vision and enhanced hearing. Do you have anything to eat in that backpack?" she explained.

"Not necessary. I can still taste breakfast in my mouth."

"Which was?"

"A mouse."

"Yuck. Gross. Well, enhanced taste. What about touch? Here, what do you feel on the tree?" Shayla interjected.

I walked over to the tree. "I can feel the sap flowing through the trunk," I explained.

"That's amazing. What about smell?"

"I can smell what the cooks are preparing for lunch at school. Gross. Meat loaf."

"You? Grossed out by school meat loaf. You eat live mice for breakfast," she laughed.

"Yeah, but at least I know what I'm eating. By the way, can I see your necklace?" I joked.

"Sure."

It was a beautiful necklace. The dragon’s eyes were filled with two multicolored gems – mostly consisting of the colors green, red, and blues, while each of the dolphins had a jewel where one of their eyes, the dolphin to the left of the dragon had a blue gem, while the dolphin to the right of the dragon had a red gem.

“Very nice. Where’d you get it?” I asked as I handed it back to her.

“I got it as a birthday gift from one of my previous foster fathers. I’ve never taken it off, unless I’m taking a shower.”

“Are the gemstones significant?” I asked again.

She nodded. “They’re birthstones. The multicolored gem is an opal, which is the birthstone for October, the red one is a ruby for the month of July, and the blue one is a sapphire for the month of September. My foster father, Mr. Reynolds, said it was to remind me of my birth family, which is strange, since my birth records could never be located. I was brought to the children’s home from a nearby hospital, where they said my birth mother died of injuries sustained in a head-on collision with a semi-truck.”

"Then how did this Mr. Reynolds know about your past?" I posed.

"He always said it was too dangerous for him to explain everything to me until Nat’s and my adoption papers were finalized, but I never found out."

"Why is that?"

"He died the night before we were supposed to meet with the lawyers to finalize everything," she said.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It happened a long time ago." She tried to reassure me, but I could tell that the loss of Mr. Reynolds still weighed heavily on her mind.

"Listen, Shayla, I don't want the others to worry about this extra ability, especially Rachel. She'll think it's another trick from the Ellimist to punish me, or something. So, for right now, let's just keep this between you and me, okay?" I asked.

"Tobias, keeping secrets from the others isn’t going to help me to gain their trust," Shayla countered.

“I know, and I’m sorry, but the others are suspicious enough of the Ellimist as it is. I’ll incur any blame for everything,” I hastened to explain.

“Very well, but don’t say I didn’t warn you, if this ends up blowing up in our faces,” Shayla concluded.

"Deal. And, thank you," I said.

With that, Shayla and I made our way to the entrance of the school. I had the strangest feeling that today was going to be filled with surprises.


	7. Chapter 6: Rachel

**Chapter 6: Rachel**

Today was not the start of a good day for me. First I woke up late because I was so worried when Tobias didn't show up to talk to me last night I stayed up until 2:30 in the morning waiting for him. I tried to rush through a quick shower, but I didn't feel any better. Then I was rushed through the rest of my daily routine. I ran downstairs, grabbed a Pop-Tart and bolted to the bus stop. I got there just as the bus was pulling up to the stop. I spotted Cassie sitting with Jake in a seat in the middle of the bus. As soon as Jake saw the kind of mood I was in, he switched seats and sat with Marco, who was sitting across from Cassie. That's just the kind of person my cousin is. I strolled to the seat and sat down. 

"You look terrible," Cassie said matter-of-factly.

"I didn't get much sleep last night," I explained.

She whispered, "Worried about Tobias?"

"Yeah, he's so obsessed with this Shayla girl," I said.

"Do I detect a hint of jealousy?" Marco interrupted.

"Shut up. I am not jealous. I'm just trying to figure out why Tobias was the only person who took the time to look up at the catwalk? What made him suddenly look up? Everyone else was concentrated on Shayla. And why is he so insistent upon trying to find her?" 

"Maybe you should ask him," Jake suggested simply. 

"Yeah, right."

"Jake has a point. Maybe you should ask him? What's the worst he could do? Not answer you?" Marco explained.

At that point I felt someone brush up against my shoulder. I turned around to see Gerald, star quarterback for the football team, staring at me.

"Hey babe. Wanna go out?"

"Drop dead, creep," I shouted.

"Ooh feisty. I like that. Come on beautiful. Just one date," he continued.

"I wouldn't cross Rachel if I were you Gerald," Marco interjected.

"Shut up midget. When I want your opinion, I'll give it to ya. So what do you say?" Gerald repeated.

"Okay, but it's your funeral pal," Marco joked.

"Sorry, I can't. I'm involved with someone right now," I told him.

"Who?" Gerald demanded.

I was just about to say Marco when, saved by the bell, the bus pulled up at school. All the students on board rose from their seats and proceeded out the door. I was so relieved. I walked steadily to my locker. I started on my combination. After I finished, I pulled up, but it wouldn't open. I was starting to get seriously annoyed.

A voice behind me said, "Here, allow me beautiful."

That did it. That jerk was mine. I spun around and stared straight into the face of...Tobias! 


	8. Chapter 7: Tobias

**Chapter 7: Tobias**

As the busses started pulling up to school, Shayla and I made our way into school.

“Wait here,” I told her, “I’m going to go get the others.”

As I walked towards where I knew Rachel’s locker was, I realized that I was walking the halls of this school for the first time, except for the previous night. I had become trapped in my hawk body before Christmas vacation during eighth grade. Rachel had stopped by her locker the night of the talent show to get a notebook she needed for her homework. I strolled up to her locker. I noticed she was having trouble with her locker.

I began, "Here, allow me beautiful."

Obviously, she was in a bad mood because she spun so fast I didn't even recognize her. At the same time, luckily, Rachel must've recognized me because she stopped dead in her tracks.

"Tobias, what are you doing here? Is everything all right? How long have you been in your human morph? What’s going on?" she demanded.

"Relax Rachel. I'll explain everything once everyone is together, which shouldn't be too long now," I said, calming her down.

As if on cue...

"Hey Rachel!" Jake yelled down the hall.

I spun around to see Jake, Cassie, and Marco walking down the hall towards us. It looked like they were going to try to calm Rachel down before classes began. But once they saw me, they stopped dead in their tracks too. Jake recovered first.

"Tobias, what are you doing here? Do you realize how much risk you're placing on us? How much time do you have left in your morph?" he scolded.

"Good, I'm glad we're all here. How long do we have before classes start?" I asked.

"Fifteen minutes. Why?" Cassie answered.

"Because we're gonna need every minute of it. Come on, let's take a walk outside," I said.

I led them outside to a picnic bench on the opposite side of the school from Chapman's office. Once they were all seated, I made a motion for Shayla to come forward.

I began, "Okay, this is going to take a lot of explaining. Where do I begin? Well, first of all, you all remember Shayla from the previous night, right? Well, early this morning, Shayla came searching for me in the woods near Cassie's house. She came right up to the tree I was perched on and started having a conversation with me. At first, I tried to ignore her, but Shayla isn't like any other person we know, and now, neither am I."

"What do you mean?" Rachel demanded.

"While Shayla and I were talking, the Ellimist made an appearance," I explained.

At that point, everyone, except Shayla, groaned in exasperation.

I continued, "And he told us some very startling news. Shayla and I are twins."

"Twins!" the remaining Animorphs exclaimed in surprise.

"How can you be so sure Tobias? I mean, the Ellimist has tricked you before. And how does Shayla know the Ellimist?" Rachel demanded.

"He’s been coming to me in my dreams the whole time I've been in town telling me to search out someone named Tobias," Shayla spoke up for the first time.

"Figures," Marco said in disgust.

I continued, "I'll try to explain as best as I can. See, I was as skeptical as you so I asked the Ellimist to show us some proof. Suddenly, we were whisked away into another dimension. You can laugh, Marco, but I swear I am telling the truth."

"I wasn't going to say anything," Marco interrupted.

"Yes, you were," I responded.

"I believe you Tobias. Continue," Cassie said.

I explained, "This place was unbelievable, but not as incredible as what the Ellimist showed us next. We were taken to a special section of this dimension. In this area, the Ellimist showed us the lifelines of millions of species across the universe. He showed us our lifelines. It showed two lines separated shortly after birth."

"But what does that prove?" Rachel inquired.

"I'm getting to that. At first, I didn’t believe him. He told me to follow my lifeline further down the road. I did, and it revealed everything. Our fateful night when we met Elfangor."

"Hey. Hey. What’s gotten into you, Tobias?" Jake interrupted. “Why don’t you blurt out all of our secrets in the open where anyone passing by can hear it?”

"I already knew about the Yeerks and you before meeting Tobias," Shayla explained.

"How?" Marco asked suspiciously.

"I’ll let Tobias tell you. You're less likely to snap at him," she said softly.

I continued with the story. "Thank you Shayla. As I was saying, it also showed us meeting Ax and David, and showed David's lifeline parting again."

"He's still alive?" Rachel asked.

"For now he was. Anyway, then I saw something else. I saw four other lines join with us," I continued.

"Four?" Everyone else exclaimed.

"You didn't tell me that Tobias," Shayla added.

I demanded, "Let me finish, please. Thank you. As I was saying, I did see four lines, but I only saw the identity of one. And it was Shayla. Then I looked back into Shayla's past and saw that it was the same line as the one that I was separated from years ago. Shayla is my sister. You'll just have to believe what I saw."

"I believe you, Tobias," Cassie said.

"As do I," Rachel agreed.

"I don’t know man. This is just insane. You know the Ellimist loves to yank our chains every chance he gets, even though he claims he cannot interfere. And, why did you say you weren't like any normal person anymore?" Marco doubted.

"May I continue?" Shayla asked.

"Be my guest," I said.

Shayla continued, "Thank you. Ever since my fourth birthday, I have been developing these abilities -- one that includes morphing, as you call it. The Ellimist told us that our mother also had these same abilities."

"What else can you do?" Marco asked.

"Mostly telepathy, and an ability to heal others by touching them," Shayla said.

"So, what does you having these abilities have to do with Tobias?" Rachel inquired.

"During our discussion with the Ellimist, he informed us that unless Tobias and I performed this special ceremony, both of us would lose our powers forever. So there, in the middle of the woods, we did it. I transferred my abilities to Tobias. That is also how I learned about the Yeerks. One part that came along with me transferring my abilities to my brother was a transfer of our life’s experiences and memories to the other sibling. Unless you include my last set of foster parents who, I’m almost positive, were controllers," Shayla explained.

"Okay, so you transferred these abilities to Tobias?" Marco concluded.

"There’s something else about your abilities than what you're telling us," Cassie said.

"I suppose so. I mean, I never thought anything was abnormal about it, but the Ellimist was the one who brought it up to Tobias this morning. Apparently, along with my morphing ability comes an ability you don't possess -- an unlimited amount of time to be allowed in a morph," Shayla finished.

"So, in a sense, she took away my old morphing power and gave me a new one. At least, that's what it felt like," I summarized.

"Are you sure about this? I’m not saying I don’t believe you, but as I said, the Ellimist has been known to trick you before," Rachel inquired.

"Yes, Shayla, tell us more," Jake demanded.

Shayla snapped. "Well, I've had my morphing ability since I was eight, so I think I would know a little about my average time in a morph. I often used my morphing ability as an escape mechanism when I was living in the children’s home. I had one best friend throughout my years there -- Natalie. When we were ten, I acquired her and for an entire day, we lived as twins. As you can see, I'm not trapped in the body of a ten year old."

"Amazing!" Marco interjected.

“And how would we know what you looked like before?” Jake countered. “We’ve never seen you before the talent show Friday night.”

"If you wish, we can test this out," I said.

Just then, the bell rang.

"This will have to wait until after school," Jake said.

"Shayla, are you enrolled in school yet?" Cassie asked.

"Not yet. Shayla and I are on our way to the office now to register," I explained.

"Um, not to put a damper on your plans or anything,” Marco postulated, “but don’t you think it’d be slightly suspicious to the Yeerks that someone who hasn’t been seen in these halls since eighth grade suddenly reappears out of nowhere, with a long-lost sister in tow?” I shrugged.

“Wouldn’t be the first time. I’ve been shuffled around from school to school that it doesn’t faze me anymore.”

“Still,” Jake interjected, “Keep your relation to Shayla under wraps for now. Until we can figure out exactly what’s going on here. Something about this isn’t adding up. It’s not like the Ellimist to be so directly involved with our welfare.”

With that Jake, Rachel, Marco, and Cassie headed off to their first period classes while Shayla and I strolled towards the office. Somehow, I had a feeling that convincing Jake and Marco about Shayla’s sincerity would be one of the biggest challenges as an Animorph that I’d ever face.


	9. Chapter 8: Shayla

**Chapter 8: Shayla**

Hi. My name is Shayla. I think you know the drill better than I do at this point. So, no, I’m not going to tell you my last name, or where I live, or any other pertinent information like that. I suppose you want to know a little more about me. Well, I suppose I could fill you in on a few details of the events in my life up to this point.

Walking to school with my brother and meeting his friends was one of the greatest moments in my life. The greatest was finding out I actually had a brother, because it cleared up so many things in my life. See, I’ve always held this belief that I had more family living out in the world somewhere, but whenever I would tell someone about this, they were more likely to dismiss my ideas as a childhood fantasy.

I could tell by his reactions that Jake wasn't ready to trust just yet, even if I was Tobias' sister. I watched him as Tobias was telling them the story. He was just like any other leader, analyzing what's being said and staying out of the conversation as much as possible. I knew why too. Thanks to Tobias, I now know all about the Yeerk invasion, including the Animorphs' recent encounter with David. Do I think he deserved what he got? Absolutely, the guy tried to murder my brother. That's crossing the line. I think Jake still feels personally responsible for the entire situation with David, even though everyone agreed to allow David to receive the morphing power.

I couldn't get a full reading on Marco. At first, he seemed to favor Jake, but as the story went along he started shifting back and forth. He'll probably wait and see what I'm like during a battle. Rachel was just as skeptical about me as Jake; though she started to warm up to me as time went along. Cassie was the only person who seemed to believe me from the start. Maybe it was because she knew there was finally someone in Tobias' life who actually cared for him. But whatever the reason, I’m grateful for her silent support.

It's never easy living in foster care, but it’s not like I ever had a choice in the decision. I was brought to the children’s home two weeks before my second birthday. I have always known I was a special child, even from the age of four. I knew this because what other four-year-old could read the minds of others around her.

Yes, telepathy was my first gift. I was living with this couple from Connecticut at the time and I began to see images in their mind. I found out that they were fugitives from New York and that they had changed their identities. Of course, not knowing what I saw, I asked them about it one day. Consequently, I was returned to the children’s home and they fled. I quickly learned how to block my telepathic abilities because I wanted to be able to fit in with a nice family. But every time I moved in with someone during that first year, I would accidentally read somebody's mind and end up right back where I started -- at the children’s home.

I have known Natalie since I arrived at the children’s home. We were both brought to the children’s home on the same day. I think we grew into such a strong friendship because we had such a similar background -- neither of us remembered our parents. Anytime one of us was in trouble; usually the other wasn't too far behind. Another reason for our close relationship is our closeness in age. Only one day separates us from each other. We’ve considered ourselves twins from the age of three. When I started developing my abilities, Natalie never ran away from me, just like any sister would. We wore the same clothes and even requested, as we got older, that if one of us was being taken into a foster home, then the other had to come too. That only worked once.

As I told the Animorphs, I acquired my ability to change into animals at the age of eight. I instinctively knew that all of my abilities would emerge on the eve of every fourth birthday. So, I knew I was going to receive another power, I just didn't know what it would be. I was living at the children’s home at the time. Natalie was there too. The children’s home usually has parties for us, but I was in the local hospital for an undisclosed reason.

While I was in the hospital, Natalie came to visit me almost every day, whenever the director would allow it. During the times she wasn’t at the hospital, she had found the time to bake some cupcakes for us. The director had kept them hidden from the other children for her. Natalie asked the nurse if we could eat them and the nurse said it was all right. After we had the cupcakes, we exchanged gifts. We had gotten each other the same gifts -- stationary, envelopes, and pens to write with. That was because I was going to be living with a new foster father when I got out of the hospital.

Well, anyway, that night, Natalie had managed to sneak in the calico cat we had rescued from an abandoned cardboard box. (Actually, we named the cat Toby and I was the one to suggest the name. Toby died three years ago. When I arrived in town, I found a calico cat, starving to find some food. I took him home and also gave him the name Toby.)

Anyway, I was casually petting Toby when I felt a strange tingling go through my hand. Natalie asked me what was wrong. Then, I got an image of Toby in my head and just started staring at it. The next thing I knew, I was changing into Toby. At that point, Natalie screamed. At the same time, she became entranced by the spectacle occurring before her. The first thing to change was my eyes. They became a lot sharper and I could see in the dark. Then I began to shrink to a quarter of my size. I watched and heard my normal hands and feet as they crunched and squished into the paws of a cat. The last thing to change was I began to grow fur.

After the change was complete, I was staring at a copy of myself. Then I felt this strange urge to fight the other cat – Toby - for dominance. (As I understand, Tobias calls this the instincts of the animal mind.) I began to chase after Toby in the room. I chased Toby around the room and Natalie chased after us. It took Nat over an hour to recapture Toby. Luckily I got control of the animal's mind shortly after that. I started to speak telepathically to Natalie while in Toby's form until finally, I saw the image of myself again. I concentrated on the image and began to change back to my normal self.

All I can say is wow. The exhilaration I felt as a cat was overwhelming. But I discovered one slight side effect -- my clothes were on still lying on a pile on my hospital room bed. Natalie handed me my clothes and I quickly redressed before the nurse on duty came in to tell us that visiting hours were over. Except for the missing clothes part, I continued to develop this ability. I quickly learned how to include tight clothing when changing. For the few days I had remaining at the children’s home, I experimented with other animals. Each time, Nat would keep an eye out for other kids. When I was done, I had acquired a chocolate Labrador retriever, a parrot and a hamster that belonged to some of the other residents at the children’s home.

A week after I was released from the hospital, I was packing up my stuff to go and live with my new foster father, Mr. Reynolds. He even agreed to let Natalie come along with us. After I told him that Nat and I were like twins and inseparable, he said the more the merrier. Mr. Reynolds was a really sweet man. He had become a widow when his wife died of cancer earlier that year. He and his wife never had children and he wanted to know what it would be like to have a daughter to help him with his work. He was getting two for the price of one.

Mr. Reynolds was a veterinarian. Natalie and I loved helping out with the animals that came into his clinic -- an old farmhouse he remodeled before his wife died. Natalie enjoyed it because she is a nature nut, while I liked it because it gave me the chance to acquire more animals than I could at the children’s home. I began to acquire everything that came into the clinic. At one point, I was worried if maybe there was a limit to how many animal forms I could keep in my body.

During the time we lived with Uncle Reggie, as we started calling him, I learned how to morph loose clothing. I also decided to tell Uncle Reggie about my abilities. He's the only foster parent I ever told about what I could do. He asked me how I came about these abilities. I told him that every four years, I gained another gift. He seemed very curious about it. He asked if Nat had any powers like that. I told him that she didn’t. He said that was unfortunate.

Through Uncle Reggie's animal hospital, I was able to acquire many animals -- a wolf spider, a female wolf, a great horned owl, a merlin, a seagull, a raccoon, a skunk, and a rabbit. One day while at the zoo -- Uncle Reggie sometimes helped out with exotic animals too -- Natalie and I snuck off so I could acquire more exotic animals. That day I got a polar bear, a panda bear (they can be very dangerous. Just try attacking one of their cubs, you'll see), a cheetah, a black jaguar, and a white Bengal tiger (I've always been fascinated by them.)

Natalie and I had been living with Uncle Reggie for two years when he started the process to adopt us. We even celebrated our ninth, tenth and eleventh birthdays with him. Our ninth and tenth birthday presents were the normal type of presents -- clothes, jewelry, books, et cetera, but the more interesting gift came on our last birthday with him. Natalie and I both received one present -- a necklace.

Each necklace had a mythical creature surrounded by our spirit animal. Uncle Reggie told us that the mythical creature was our personal protector. Mine was a dragon surrounded by two dolphins. There were four gemstones in the places where the animals’ eyes were located, two opals, one ruby, and one emerald. Natalie’s was a phoenix with two wolves surrounding it. But whereas the gems for the wolves’ eyes, one amethyst and one diamond, were similar to mine, the gemstone in the phoenix was centralized in the mythical bird’s torso.

The strangest part of the gift was that we had no clue what these gemstones symbolized, except for the opals, which was the birthstone for the month of October. Uncle Reggie said that he would explain the significance of the other gemstones once the adoption papers were finalized and we were his daughters, but made us promise never to take the necklaces off -- a promise I've kept to this day.

Unfortunately, the night before the papers were supposed to be finalized, Uncle Reggie mysteriously died. That day, after we came home from school, Nat and I found Uncle Reggie on the couch, sleeping. We tried shaking him because it was time to head over to the lawyer’s office, but he never did. The autopsy claimed that he died in his sleep. Natalie and I thought otherwise.

See, the night before he died, Uncle Reggie had a visit from a very strange woman. They spent hours alone in the kitchen, arguing. Nat and I didn't want to disturb them, but we listened in on their conversation. I was really shocked when she said she wanted to take her daughter home with her. But Uncle Reggie told the woman, Loren, that she would have to be patient for a little while longer. Loren stayed overnight and left before we were up for school the following day. We asked Uncle Reggie who the woman was, and he said it was his sister.

Besides meeting that strange woman, Nat and I had a feeling that someone didn't want us to learn about the origin of our necklaces. We were so devastated by his death, not only because we would miss him, but also because it meant we had to return to the children’s home once again, a place we thought we would never have to return to again.

About three months after we returned to the children’s home, Nat and I were separated from each other again. She was sent to a family in Seattle. I was sent to a family in Florida. I wrote to her every week, telling her how my life was, but more importantly, what animals I had acquired. While living with this family, I visited SeaWorld numerous times. During those visits, I acquired an orca whale and a dolphin. I never had the chance to test out the orca morph because I was sent back to the children’s home three days later after living with my foster family for only six months.

I was alone now. I hated being shipped around to different parts of the country. Sometimes, I realized that I would be in a particular animal’s shape for hours at a time. But I would always return to my normal self. So I was shocked to learn that Tobias had become trapped after being in a morph for only two hours. My average time in a morph is three or four hours. Natalie even allowed me to acquire her once, while we were living with Uncle Reggie. Then I would morph her and we would literally be twins for that amount of time. Morphing became my favorite ability because I could go into that morph and forget about my troubles.

There is something in my past I hope the Animorphs never find out. Just like Tobias was with his uncle, I was abused while in one of my foster homes. I know how it feels to believe you're alone and that no one will save you, the pain of knuckles burying into your flesh and knocking you out until the instant before death. I know the pain of no one believing your story.

Eventually, the school nurse where I was living at the time believed my story and I was removed from the abusive environment. When I was returned to the children’s home, I began to distrust everyone, except Natalie. I became fearful of the next hand that was coming close to my body. I flinched whenever someone touched me. Uncle Reggie taught me how to trust someone with my heart again.

It was at the age of twelve that I gained my last ability. At least, that's what I told the Ellimist. (I'll explain later.) This was my healing ability. Again I was at the children’s home, but Natalie wasn't living there anymore. The family she had been living with in Seattle adopted her. I wrote to Nat every week, sending Christmas cards, birthday cards, letters, anything. She repeated the same thing until about a year and a half ago.

In her final letter, she didn't seem like her old self. She was telling me how her family was moving because her father was being transferred, but her tone in the letter wasn't the same. She seemed cold and distant. She was telling me about this new organization she and her boyfriend were involved with. I became worried when I didn't receive my last letter from her. We always received our letters on the same day each month. But that soon changed when I moved shortly after receiving Nat's last letter.

Anyway...back to the healing thing. There was an accident on the playground. Two children had collided with each other while playing football. I ran over to see if I could help since Uncle Reggie had taught Nat and I CPR and basic First Aid skills. I was searching for serious injuries on one of the children when my hand brushed one of his scrapes. All of a sudden, the bruise disappeared. Everyone else on the playground saw what happened and was amazed. From that point on, I couldn't get any privacy. I was constantly hounded by people who wanted me to heal their wounds. This badgering continued until I was placed with another family two weeks later.

Remember when I said I wasn't completely honest with the Ellimist. Well, I didn't word it that way, but it's true. You see, I did receive another power. It was about a year ago. I wasn't expecting it because it didn't come on my birthday like my other abilities. Even I'm afraid to use it. It's way too powerful for any one person to possess, much less a teenager. This ability I'm talking about is the ability to erase memories. Now you see why I refuse to use it. It's too easy to abuse this gift. I remember the words the Ellimist said during the ceremony: "And with it accept the responsibility that goes along with these abilities." Well, this is definitely one power that needs an extremely responsible person.

I was living with the same family from shortly after I received my healing ability. They were always acting really weird. Every three days they would go to this special meeting called the Sharing. They were always trying to recruit me, but something in the back of my mind told me to stay away from the place. (Now I know I made the right choice.) One night, my foster father caught me while I was morphing. His wife was away at a bridge tournament. He started screaming in some strange tongue. The only word I remember clearly was 'Andalite'. (And that's how I first learned about the invasion.) I never understood the words, until now, but I rushed over to him and pressed my hands on his head. I said 'you will forget what you have seen here', and just like in Star Wars, he did. He never brought up the subject again. Shortly after this incident, I was being sent back to the children’s home. My foster parents said things weren't working out the way they had planned. I had only been back at the children’s home for about a month until I moved in with the family I am living with now.

My foster parents now are Andrew and Frances Cooper. They also have an eighteen-year-old daughter named Christi. The parents, at least, are nice. Christi is another story. I think it's because she's always been an only child and now she has to compete with a sibling in the house. Now Christi is trying to get me into trouble with her parents so they'll send me back to the children’s home. So far, her strategies aren't working, but what will their reactions be to Tobias? Would they take him in, too, or will I be forced to leave, with no home to go to? Or worse, will we be sent to live with Tobias' abusive uncle or good-for-nothing aunt? I would find out tonight. But, convincing the Animorphs that I can be trusted, enrolling and getting by controllers on my first day, and trying to convince my foster parents to take in yet another child would be hard enough. I will handle one situation at a time. After all, I'm only human.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 9:**

At that moment, we arrived at the office. Tobias led the way.

"Hello. How can I help..." a man began.

The man suddenly stopped as he looked up and saw who was in front of him. I could sense Tobias' fear and contempt for the man before him. I knew why too. This man was a well-known controller – Vice-Principal Chapman.

He continued, "Ah, this is indeed a surprise. May I inquire where you've been for the past two years, Tobias?"

‘Two years,’ I thought. How horrible it must've been for him to be trapped in that frail body for so long. He must've felt what I was feeling because he 'pathed to me, **_((It wasn't that bad.))_** Then he turned his attention to Chapman, and sneered, "I can survive on my own."

"Can you now? Both of your guardians have no clue where you are. So where have you been living?" Chapman inquired.

"I'm not surprised they didn't bother to look for me. I was staying with a friend near my aunt’s, until he and his family moved away," he said nonchalantly.

"Is that so? And this friend would be?”

“Doesn’t matter anymore. They won’t be back, so I figured I could use a change of scenery, and now, here I am,” he concluded.

“I see. Well, I take it you’re here to register for classes now? It's pretty late in the quarter. How long do you think you'll be staying with us this time Tobias?" Chapman said.

He shrugged. "However long I feel like it," Tobias responded.

Tobias’ attitude towards Chapman confused and frightened me. Why was he trying to sound all tough now?

"And who might this be?" Chapman directed his question towards me.

"I’m Shayla, sir. Frances Cooper called on Friday and said I would be registering today," I replied.

"Ah, yes. Mrs. Schultz has everything you need. I'll need to speak to you after school, Tobias," Chapman finished. With that, Chapman entered his office. He even closed his blinds. I stared for a moment, trying to see if I could get a reading of that Yeerk's mind, but then I brought my attention back to Mrs. Schultz.

Mrs. Schultz began, "All right, Shayla, here’s your schedule and locker assignment. If you’ll wait a moment, an envelope arrived just this morning, concerning you Tobias. It must be your transfer records from your previous school."

After Mrs. Schultz left, I walked over to Tobias. “Transfer records?”

“Probably the Ellimist, again,” Tobias suggested. “It’s not like I haven’t kept up with school subjects. I usually hang out with Rachel and the others while they’re studying sometimes. It gives me something to do with my time.”

I noticed that Tobias kept pinching the bridge of his nose. "Are you feeling okay?" I asked

"Not really," he explained, "My head feels like it's going to explode. There are so many thoughts spinning through my head. How can you keep sane with them?"

"I've created shields to block them," I answered, "After school, I'll teach you how to build your shield. For now, just concentrate on the teacher's mind in your class today. Don't read his or her mind or make comments, though. Does that help at all?"

"Not really," Tobias said.

"Well then, try to concentrate on me for most of the day. I can help you if it gets too overwhelming for you,” I suggested.

“What if we’re in different classes though?” he inquired.

“Doesn’t matter, if we’re still in the same building, I can feel you and help you,” I assured him.

"Thanks," he said.

"No problem. That's what incredibly gifted sisters are for."

"Get over yourself," he interjected as he shoved me, lightly, into the wall.

About ten minutes later, Mrs. Schultz returned. She handed Tobias two pieces of paper identical to mine. One was white, the other was blue.

"The white paper is your schedule for the year. The blue paper is your locker assignment and combination. We are in the middle of first period right now," she explained as she wrote two additional notes, "You can start with that class. You can use these passes for today in case you can’t get to your classes on time. Just hand the teacher this note from me and he or she will understand. Your lockers are located on the second floor."

"Thank you," we said in unison as he grabbed the pieces of paper.

"Here are some maps to help find your way," she finished.

We exited the office and made our way up to the second floor where our lockers were located. I glanced quickly at our schedules, then said, “Well, I guess I’ll see you later.”

Tobias smiled. “Yeah, at least we don’t have all of our classes together. I think that would be a little weird, even for the Ellimist.”

“So, I’ll see you fourth period, then,” I confirmed.

He nodded. “See you in geometry.” With that, we split up in different directions as we made our way to our first period classes. As Tobias walked further away down the hall from me, I heard Tobias as he thought  **_((It's good to be doing something normal again.))_ **


	11. Chapter 10: Tobias

**Chapter 10: Tobias**

Well, at least I wouldn't have every class with Shayla, just our math and lunch periods together. I guess I could live with that. It was better than having all our classes together. I heard twins can sometimes do that. In fact, I even upped her one. I'm in Chemistry and she's in Biology. I must remember to thank the Ellimist for those transcripts. I guess all that studying with the other Animorphs paid off. I breezed my way through the first three periods of classes, taking the opportunity to test out my telepathic abilities by conversing with Rachel throughout our first period chemistry class when we were situated at opposite ends of the classroom from each other, until I met up with Shayla outside of our math class for fourth period. I knocked on the door, as class had already started before we arrived. A fairly young man answered.

"May I help you?" he asked.

Shayla handed him the hall passes given to us by Mrs. Schultz and said, "Sorry to disturb you, but we're in your class now."

"No problem at all, come on in," the teacher returned.

As he read over the schedules, I surveyed the room. I was hoping that maybe one of the other Animorphs would be in class with me, but to my surprise I saw all four of them sitting in desks in the back of the room. In fact, the only two available seats were next to Rachel and Marco.

"Welcome back Tobias," the teacher announced.

"Do I know you?" I asked, perplexed.

He explained, "You probably don't remember me, but I had you in my class two years ago when you were in middle school. I was promoted when Mr. Perkins left."

I remember Mr. Perkins. It was after we destroyed the Kandrona situated at the EGS Tower. Perkins was a controller and when his Yeerk died, he tried to free Tom, but failed. He's now living out in the wilderness somewhere.

"Oh yeah, now I remember you," I returned. “Mr. Starr, right?”

"That’s right. Why don't you and Shayla take the desks next to Rachel and Marco?" Mr. Starr suggested as he handed us our textbooks. We took our seats. I sat next to Rachel. I just hoped Marco wouldn't mess up Shayla's studies.

"Shayla, Tobias, we are currently on page 78," Mr. Starr said.

"Thank you," we both replied, simultaneously. That got a chuckle out of Marco. Rachel "tapped" him upside the head.

The rest of the class period flew by so fast. The next thing I knew, the bell rang and class was over. It was time for lunch. Shayla and I walked back to our lockers and proceeded out to the picnic bench from earlier before. The others were already at the table with their lunch trays. While I went to get lunch, I noticed Shayla stayed behind and chatted with the other Animorphs. I tried to listen in, but she was blocking me. Hmm, that's strange. When I reached the table, Shayla went back inside to get her lunch.

"What was that about?" I inquired.

"Oh, nothing. Just something Shayla had to tell us," Rachel answered.

"About what?"

"It's nothing, don’t worry about it," Shayla interjected.

"Whatever," I concluded, shrugging my shoulders. I could probably swindle the truth out of Rachel later.

"Good, then let's get back to what we were discussing earlier this morning," Jake said.


	12. Chapter 11: Cassie

**Chapter 11: Cassie**

Throughout the day, Rachel and I were trying to convince Jake and Marco that we felt that Shayla was sincere, but only managed to get into a heated argument with them during our third period study hall.

"Rachel, how could you, of all people, trust anyone this soon?" Marco demanded.

"Because, if Shayla is who she says she is, then Tobias will finally have a family member who cares for him," she explained.

"I agree with Rachel," I included, "Besides, during her conversation I didn't sense anything wrong with her. She seemed normal to me."

"Normal being what Cassie?" Marco joked.

"Well, I sensed that she was telling the truth, as was Tobias," I concluded.

"And they're right about Tobias acquiring at least one of these supposed new abilities. Tobias is in my first period chemistry class now. Even though we were on opposite ends of the room, he kept up a one-sided conversation throughout the teacher’s lecture," Rachel added.

"Yeah, but he can do that with thought-speak since hawk is now his normal form, just like Ax can," Jake said.

"Yeah, but the way the words sounded in my head, it’s a completely different form of communication from thought-speak," she said.

"How so?" Marco asked.

"Well, you know how it seems like thought-speak is heard in the back of your mind, kind of like an after-thought. It sounded like he was standing right beside me and speaking into my ear, except for the fact that he was almost a room apart from me."

"I'm wondering why Tobias accepted Shayla and these abilities so quickly. I would think he would've been a little more skeptical than this," Marco added.

Before anyone could voice their opinions on Marco’s train of thought, our conversation was interrupted when the bell rang. Time for math. Geometry was boring as usual. I truly can’t understand how the plotting of matrices is going to help me in life. Class was in session for only five minutes when there was a knock on the door. When Mr. Starr answered the door, Tobias and Shayla walked in. They were in our class as well. This is getting interesting. The rest of class seemed to fly by as we anticipated lunch. When the bell rang, Jake and I strolled towards the cafeteria to get our lunches. While we were waiting in line, I struck up an interesting conversation.

“I wish you would stop beating yourself up over David,” I said.

“It was my fault,” he said.

“It was all our faults, not just yours. Remember, we voted. Therefore, it’s on all of our shoulders.”

We were soon joined by Rachel and Marco, both of whom had brought their lunches from home.

“Well, where do we want to eat today, inside or outside?” Marco asked.

“We told Tobias and Shayla to meet us at the picnic table again, we’ll go there,” Jake explained.

“You know...if we wanted to find out the truth...” Rachel started.

“Don’t even think it Rachel. It’s too risky,” Jake said.

“Tobias knows all the places to hide around school,” she continued.

“Last thing we need right now is for the monitors outside to think that we’re trying to ditch school,” Marco pointed out.

“There’s no need to be too hasty here. Everything will figure itself out in its own time,” I said as we headed for the picnic bench. Luckily, it was still empty. Since it was such a nice day out, I was hoping the bench wouldn’t be filled yet.

“Let’s just sit down here,” Jake said sternly, ending the argument. With that, we sat down.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 12:**

Shortly thereafter, Shayla came over to the table. "Listen, Jake, I know you don't completely trust me yet. In fact, if I was in your shoes, and went through what you guys just went through, I wouldn't trust me yet either, but as a friend, will you help me out with something after school?"

"That depends on what you want us to do," he said.

"Well," Shayla continued, "I'm planning a trip to the mall after school. For Tobias. After seeing the clothes he had left at his uncle's house, he's going to need some new stuff. Also, I'm going to need yours and Marco's help with something."

"What?" Marco asked.

"Toiletries for Tobias. I don't exactly know the kinds of things to get him. You two do. Also, I think it might really boost his morale if we did this together. He seems so depressed lately."

"How do you know what he's been feeling if you've only been in town for three days?" Rachel asked.

"Thanks to the Ellimist, I have access to all his memories up until this morning. His latest memories have been a little disturbing. Plus, he always gets depressed around this time of year."

"Why?" I asked.

"Well, lately it seems he'd been having trouble while hunting. Whenever he tried to catch a mouse or something, he’d see himself as the prey and, because he hesitates, he doesn't get the kill."

“Why didn’t he say anything to us about this?” I asked.

Shayla shrugged uncertain. "He doesn't want you guys to know that he's having troubles. He doesn't want you to think that he's being a burden. He wants to solve his own problems. Actually, I think he's just being stubborn and stupid about it.”

"That still doesn’t explain why is he always depressed during this time of year though?" Rachel asked.

"Because his birthday is coming up and…"

Shayla never even had a chance to finish because Rachel interrupted her.

"His birthday is coming up? Why wouldn't he have said something to us?" Rachel asked.

“I got the impression that he’s actually forgotten when his birthday is. Either that, or he’s so worried about you guys that he forgets about himself."

"How do you figure?" Marco asked.

"Because, the last time anyone threw him a birthday party or even acknowledged his birthday was when he was five."

"Five?" Rachel exclaimed.

“Poor Tobias,” I added.

“Yes, unfortunately. He doesn’t blame you guys though. You’ve been fairly busy with saving the world that he just put his feelings aside on the whole matter. But I think I have the perfect solution for that. Our birthday is in three days, we’ll throw him a surprise party. That’ll cheer him up,” Shayla suggested. “So, who’s going with me to the mall this afternoon?”

"I'm in," Rachel volunteered.

"Surprise, surprise," Marco quipped, "the end of the world wouldn't keep Rachel away from the mall."

"I'll go too," I said quickly. Marco and Jake looked at me suspiciously. Then I added, "To keep Rachel from getting out of control."

"I do not get out of control."

"Yes you do," all of us, including Shayla, joked.

"I'm not sure yet, Shayla, I'll let you know later," Jake said.

"I'm in. I'll help you out," Marco finally said

"Thanks. Meet me in front of school after last period. Here he comes. Listen, he's going to be wondering what's going on, but keep it a secret. I’ll be right back. Is there anything edible to eat?"

"Not really," Marco joked.

"I'll find something," she said as she walked.

"What was that all about?" Tobias asked as he sat down.

We managed to distract Tobias until Shayla returned to the table, at which point, Jake asked Tobias, once again, to go over everything that happened to him during his early morning encounter with the Ellimist and Shayla. I listened just as intently as the others, but what I was hearing might not have been what the others were focusing on. For the first time since the night when I met the shy, elusive boy tagging along behind Jake, Tobias was happy, almost jubilant. I wanted Tobias to enjoy these moments for as long as he could. Although Jake didn't truly believe Tobias' story yet, I knew differently. Shayla was telling the truth, as was Tobias. He probably was human again, still with his morphing power, and now he has family who cares about him. During parts of the conversation, usually when someone or a group of people walked by, Tobias would flinch suddenly.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"Yeah, I will be," he answered. Then Shayla would lean over, whisper something into his ear, and he would calm down again.

Jake finally brought us back on track. "Well, Shayla, if you supposedly have the ability to morph, what morphs do you possess?"

"Let's see," she began, "there's so many. Umm, I have a calico cat, a chocolate Labrador retriever, a parrot, a hamster, a wolf spider, a wolf, an owl, a merlin, a seagull, a raccoon, a skunk, a rabbit, a polar bear, a panda bear, a cheetah, a jaguar, a white Bengal tiger, an orca whale, and a dolphin."

"That's an impressive list," Jake said, unamused, "Can you describe some of the experiences you've had as these animals?"

Shayla continued, "Um...for my first morph, the cat, I chased my cat for almost an hour around my hospital room trying to claw him because he was in my territory. As a dog, I played Frisbee with Natalie for two hours. As a wolf, I helped rescue a lost child in the woods near my house. I was almost eaten by a snake while in my hamster morph. I was almost eaten by a harpy eagle while in my skunk, rabbit, and raccoon morphs. I flew for three weeks straight one time, switching from my merlin form to owl when it got dark and lived in the woods for three weeks when I ran away from the children’s home shortly after one of my foster fathers died. I haven't had a chance to use my orca morph yet. I was the star attraction at Sea World once, when the trainer mistook me for the real dolphin. I've felt the raw power of being a tiger, jaguar, cheetah, and polar bear, and the cuddliness of a panda bear."

"That's quite impressive," Marco quipped.

"How did you acquire so many animals?" Rachel asked.

"Morphing was my favorite ability. It came in real handy when shipped to foster homes I didn't particularly like. So whenever I was moved to another area of the country I would acquire any animals I could get my hands on."

"Sort of like Cassie," Rachel concluded.

"Yeah, I guess so, except for I think I'm immune to the allergy thing."

"You know about Cassie's allergy?" Jake asked.

"Yes, Jake, I told you. I have all of Tobias' memories in my head. I know everything you know, as of this date. I know everything about him, and he knows everything about me. Anyway, for almost three years, I lived with Uncle Reggie, the only foster parent I would ever consider being my father. I believed he was the only decent human being on the planet, besides my best friend Natalie. Uncle Reggie was a veterinarian. Mainly, he worked out of his farmhouse, and that's how I got most of the domestic animals, but sometimes he would help out at the local zoo. One day, while he was helping out with an injured zebra, Nat and I snuck off and I acquired the animals I wanted. Man, Nat was always so jealous of me for this ability. She’s more of a nature nut than I am."

"Are you sure you and Cassie aren't the twins here?" Marco quipped.

This time, both Rachel and Tobias slapped him upside the head.

"Hey, stop that," he demanded. “What’s up with the abuse?”

"For being you," Rachel shouted.

"What was that for?" Shayla asked, confused. “He didn’t say anything to offend me.”

"Because we live such similar lives. My parents are both veterinarians. My father works out of our farmhouse and my mother works at the Gardens," I explained

"Oh, well, like attracts like, I guess," Shayla laughed as she spoke.

"Oh, great, another tree-hugger." Marco, of course.

"Nah, Nat’s the tree-hugger, to the point that she became a vegetarian at age 12. I usually stick to causes that advocate for animal rights."

"Whatever you say, Peta."

"Is that my nickname for you Marco?" Shayla asked

"For now, until I find something else."

"I like it," Shayla said approvingly.

"What's Peta?" Rachel asked.

"People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals," Shayla explained. “They’re an advocacy group created to promote animal rights, in areas such as research where animals are often treated cruelly by scientists and researchers.” After she finished speaking, Shayla was quiet for a few moments, and then suddenly started sobbing.


	14. Chapter 13: Jake

**Chapter 13: Jake**

Marco had just finished marking Shayla with his seal of approval when she started sobbing. I couldn't understand why everybody was willing to trust Shayla, especially after what happened with David. True, she seems sincere, but so did David, at first, and we all know what happened to him.

"What's wrong?" Tobias asked.

"Remember when I said I was over losing Uncle Reggie? Well, I'm not. I still miss him every day. He was the closest I ever came to having a real father, and a permanent home. Nat too."

"What happened to Nat?" I asked.

"She was finally adopted by a family in Seattle. We lost track of each other about two years ago. We were more devastated by why Uncle Reggie died when he did. He was still fairly young -- only 40 -- at the time and was in perfect health. Consequently, he died the night before he was supposed to explain what this means."

Shayla pulled out the necklace and took it off. It was a beautiful necklace. Probably 14 karat gold, and on it was a dragon’s pendant surrounded by dolphins. The creatures’ eyes were filled in with different colored gems. Two were multicolored and located where the dragon’s eyes would’ve been, the dolphin on the left had a blue gem and the dolphin on the right had a red gem.

"What's so significant about this?" Marco asked.

"Uncle Reggie said that it was so I would always have a part of my birth family with me," Shayla explained.

"And what’s so strange about that?" Marco asked.

"No one knows where my birth records are. I was brought to the children’s home from a nearby hospital. The children’s home director said that my mother had died in an accident with a semi-truck, but they couldn’t locate any identification on her. The only reason they knew my name is because my mother kept asking if I was all right while the doctors and nurses at the hospital tried to save her life."

“So, if the hospital and children’s home couldn’t locate your birth records, how could this man?” Cassie asked.

“That’s what he was going to explain after the adoption papers were finalized,” Shayla confirmed, “But, look at this. See how there’s two opals in the place where the dragon’s eyes are supposed to be. For the longest time, I thought those were for Natalie and myself, since our birthdays are a day apart, but now I wonder if…”

"…he knew about Tobias?" Rachel concluded.

Shayla nodded in acquiescence. "But, how could this man have known about your past if there’s no record of it?" I asked.

"He always told us it was too dangerous to reveal anything until the adoption was finalized. Trust me, if I would’ve had any inkling that I had any relatives alive, especially a twin brother, somewhere on this planet, I would've been hounding the authorities to locate him."

"Why?" Cassie asked.

"Because, throughout my life, I’ve always had this gut feeling that someone important was missing in my life, and I let people know it too. But, like all authority figures, they dismissed it as a childhood fantasy," Shayla explained.

"Well, what about Tobias’ birth records?" Marco asked.

Tobias shook his head. “I wouldn’t even know where to begin to look for those anymore. They’re probably lost somewhere between my uncle’s slovenly paperwork or tossed up in my aunt’s attic so she doesn’t have to look at them.”

"Listen you guys, I think we should start talking about something else. I don't want to make the other people around us suspicious of anything," I said.

"Okay, since we're playing the 'new student' routine, the best way to escape suspicion is to make it sound like you're telling Tobias and myself about what's good to do in town, showing us your schedules, stuff like that," Shayla explained.

"Well, let's start with the schedules thing," Rachel said. The Animorphs proceeded to pull out their schedules.

It took Shayla a matter of seconds to scan through the schedules and come to the following conclusion. "According to our schedules, in addition to all of us being in the same math class and lunch period, Jake and I have two classes together, our gym and history classes, Cassie and I only have one additional class together, Honors English, Marco and I have gym, Driver’s Ed, and Honors History together, and Rachel and I only have Honors English together. Conversely, Tobias has no other classes other than geometry and lunch with Jake, only gym with Cassie, only Composition 2 with Marco, and Chemistry and Honors History with Rachel.” She lightly punched Tobias in his right forearm. “How in the heck did you end up in a science class higher than me?”

Tobias shrugged, then winked at Rachel. “Good study partner.”

Marco snorted. “I doubt much studying went on…” He trailed off upon seeing Rachel and Tobias glare figurative daggers at him. "Anyway, how did you do that so fast?" Marco asked.

"Do what?" Shayla asked.

“Read and interpret our schedules so fast?”

Shayla blushed. “Oh, that? It was nothing. When I first arrived home with Uncle Reggie, I was kinda withdrawn and shy around him. When he saw that I usually had a book in my hands, he signed me up for a speed reading course through the local community center. It’s stuck ever since.”

"Well, lunch is just about over," I said, "what do we want to do with the time remaining?"


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 14:**

There was still fifteen minutes left until the end of our lunch period, but I wanted to try to get away from talking too openly about anything dealing with the Yeerks or Shayla while on school property. Of course, my cousin has to go and ruin my plans as she exclaimed, "I want to see a demonstration of Shayla's powers."

"What do you want to see?" she asked. Of course, Shayla obliged her.

"I would like to see your healing ability," Cassie said. ‘Not you too, Cass,’ I inwardly groaned.

"Um, that would require someone to injure themselves in some way. Any volunteers?"

"I'll do it," I said, deciding to bite the bullet. I wasn't too thrilled about the idea, but since I was the most skeptical, I figured I might as well.

"Okay, whatever you want Jake," Shayla agreed.

Looking around to make sure no one noticed what was about to happen, I forcefully slammed my left shoulder into a nearby maple tree, and I heard the sickening pop as it became dislocated or worse. I heard the others stifle sympathy moans as I slowly backed away from the tree and sat back down on the picnic bench.

As I sat down, Shayla rose from her seat and walked around to my side of the table, and placed her palm on Jake’s shoulder for five seconds. A soft, yellow glow emanated from the area under her palm. As her hand moved away from the injury, I could see the joint in my shoulder realigning with my shoulder blade, then the muscles surrounding the joint reknitted into place. The glow disappeared from Shayla’s hand as she sat back down next to Tobias.

"Overkill much, Jake?" Rachel sneered.

I shrugged my now healed shoulder, noting that the pain was completely gone. "Perhaps," I returned. “But at least it provided an effective demonstration of her abilities.”

"Does that mean you’re ready to trust me?" Shayla queried.

"You're telepathic right?" I inquired.

"Yeah."

"Well, then, read my mind and find out," I finished.

She hesitated for a few moments before responding. "You’re okay with this?"

“Why so hesitant?” I challenged her. “Can’t do it?”

“Of course I can do it. I’m just not in the habit of invading peoples’ thoughts without permission,” she explained.

“Just this once, I give you permission,” I warned her sternly.

She nodded solemnly. “Of course.”

For a few moments, Shayla closed her eyes. She remained perfectly still and calm. She was so still that blowing lightly on her would've knocked her down. Then she opened her eyes again and looked down, defeated. "No, you're still not going to accept me as an Animorph. I respect that. You are the leader and I will wait until you are ready."

"Jake, come on, man, even I trust her, and you know how skeptical I am," Marco said.

"Yes, but until I see Tobias and Shayla morph after school, my decision stands," I said, “Plus, am I the only one who remembers what we just went through?”

“No offense, Jake,” Shayla began, “but how dare you compare me to David? I mean, true, we just met, and yes, I tend to keep to myself, but so did Tobias when you met him. What makes him different than me? What makes you trust him more than me? Even Marco, the skeptic, agrees with me, and he was against making David an Animorph. Why do I frighten you so much?”

“Because, with all those powers you have, if you were ever to turn against us, we would be no match against you. Even if Tobias was to get the best education out of you, you’d know every twist and turn, and counter all his attempts to stop. I just can’t trust what I don’t quite understand yet,” I explained.

“That’s all justifiable, and believe me, I've wondered myself why I have these abilities and whether or not I'm responsible enough to handle them wisely, but you want to know what I've learned, nothing happens without a reason behind it. You can call it destiny, or fate, or whatever, but somehow, I know I was destined to find you guys and help you in your fight. I am prepared to do whatever it takes to keep this planet safe. I still have Natalie out there to protect. She is still in danger, and until I know for sure she’s going to be safe for the rest of her life, I will not stop fighting. I would die for Natalie and for any of you for that matter. I am willing to make those kinds of sacrifices. It’s the least I can do to keep my family safe. And I know you don’t believe me about my morphing ability, and I don’t know how I'm going to convince you, but it’s the God’s honest truth that I possess this ability. And I will fight along side you until the Earth is freed from the Yeerk scum.”

"We could end that dispute right now," Rachel suggested.

"Rachel, I already told you, it's too dangerous, we'll wait until after school. If you trust that Shayla is truthful about herself and her intentions, you can wait until then. I don't want to jeopardize our safety just to rule out of hunch," I argued against her idea.

"It's alright Rachel, I understand, really," Shayla said, reassuring her.

Then we started breaking out into our own conversations. Then, Rachel brought up something that the rest of us had overlooked. "Where is Tobias going to stay now? He can't live in the woods anymore," Rachel asked.

"I’d ask my foster parents, but I don’t want to push my luck," Shayla said.

"Who are you staying with anyway?" Cassie asked.

"The Coopers."

"Frances and Andrew Cooper?" Rachel asked.

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"It's just strange. They are my next door neighbors. You have been in town for almost a week now and I never saw you come out of the house once," Rachel explained.

"I'm kind of a loner. I was probably in my room most of the time, or in the backyard, reading or writing. I like to do that sort of stuff. It takes my mind off my problems. Or I was playing with the stray cat I adopted. Besides, I need to stay on my foster parents good graces."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because of their daughter, Christi. I think she's jealous of me or something. She's trying to get her parents to send me back to the children’s home. I don't want to return there again. There's no one there for me now. Nat is gone, and now I have Tobias. I don't want to be separated again. Besides, the last time I was there, the kids there saw one of my abilities, when it was just coming out. I couldn't control it, because I didn't know what it was, but they kept hounding me afterwards."

"Your healing ability, right?" Marco asked.

"Yes. The director and nurse wanted to bring in all these specialists to see why I could heal people with just the touch of my hand. I couldn't get a moment’s rest there. It was horrific having all those people around me. It was a claustrophobic experience."

"Shayla, what are the regulations that usually occur when a living relative is found?" Rachel asked.

"Those children whose living relatives were found ended up living with those relatives," she explained.

"But that would mean..." I started.

"No, don't even think about it." Tobias shouted, "I will not put Shayla through that torture. No one should have to deal with them."

"What are you talking about?" Marco asked.

"Tobias and Shayla would have to go back to either their aunt or uncle's house," Cassie concluded.

"No way!" Rachel said, "I will make sure you two are not put back into that environment. I'll have my mom make sure to that."

"Let's stop drawing up worst case scenarios for the moment and think about the Coopers," I said. "Right now, they are the legal guardians of Shayla. Your safest bet would be to try to persuade the Coopers to let Tobias stay with them, at least until things are straightened out. Do you think the Coopers would be willing to take in another person?"

"I'm not sure. I would hope since he's my brother, they would allow him to stay, but just in case, I think we should have a back-up plan ready."

"We could do a switch-off type of thing," Rachel suggested.

"How so?" I asked.

"Well, like tonight, if they are both asked to leave, then Shayla comes and stays with me and Tobias stays with Jake."

Marco picked up on Rachel's wavelength, "And then the following night, Tobias stays with me and Shayla with Cassie."

"Exactly," Rachel exclaimed.

"That's all fine and dandy, but we're missing one important piece of information," Shayla began, "my foster parents are going to want to know where Tobias has been if he's a runaway. If they check the local shelters, they won't find any record of him staying there. We have to make up some kind of story on where Tobias has been for the past two years since running away from his uncle and aunt."

"We'll have to think about that after school too. We won't have time now," I said. There was only about a few minutes left before the bell rang to single the end of lunch. Two minutes were left when Gerald -- the same Gerald from the bus -- walked up behind Rachel.

"Well, well, what do we have here? Rachel, you left in such a hurry, you forgot to answer my question.”

"About what?" she asked.

"You said you were already involved with someone, and I asked who. Then you stormed off the bus." Then, he looked over at Tobias and Shayla. "Hey. We have some new students with us. Wait a minute, I remember you. Did you have trouble finding your locker again, new boy?"

"No Gerald, he didn't. And this is who I'm involved with right now."

"This shrimp? You have got to be kidding me Rachel! You could do so much better," he laughed.

"Yes, but at least he treats me with respect, not like a slab of meat to be tossed to the wolves later on when your appetite is satisfied."

"We'll see how much respect he has when he’s staring at the bottom of my shoe," Gerald boasted.

That did it. Tobias was steamed now. Tobias never did like bullies. He was always a target for them in middle school. Tobias quickly stood up and was staring, eye to eye, with Gerald. That's when I realized how tall Tobias had gotten in the past two years. When I first met Tobias, he was somewhere between mine and Marco’s height. Now, Tobias was probably the same height as me, maybe taller, I'm not quite sure. Tobias still looked steamed. Shayla stood up, a look of concern for her brother. The rest of us just stared at the confrontation that was about to take place. I wanted to intervene, just like the last time, but Marco held me back. Marco was more understanding about Tobias' situation since he got just about enough grief as Tobias did back in middle school. Tobias wanted to prove himself and if I interfered, I would only embarrass Tobias more.

"Ooh, you wanna fight now? Look who decided to grow a backbone," Gerald boasted.

"I've developed a lot more than that," Tobias sneered.

"Tobias!" Shayla shouted.

Just then, the bell rang. Crisis averted for now.

"I'll get you at the end of the day punk. I'll see you later Rachel and your new friend too." Then Gerald walked away. And Tobias sat back down. He took a moment to calm down.

"Thanks everyone," he said a few moments later.

"Sure," Cassie complied.

"No problem," I added.

"Was nothing," Marco said.

"Same here," Rachel commented.

"Tobias, we need to talk," Shayla said.

"Not now Shayla."

"Yes, now. I won't let you use those powers just to get revenge against people who bullied you in middle school. Just because you have a power doesn't mean you can abuse it. Now, promise me that if something happens today between you and Gerald, you won't use your abilities against him," Shayla pleaded.

"All right, I promise, jeez. Are you happy now?"

"Only if you truly promise," she added.

"I promise," I answered sincerely.

"Thank you," Shayla concluded.

"Well, Shayla, we should head off for Biology now," Cassie said.

"And we should go to Phy Ed," Rachel added.

"Hope you like fitness tests?" Marco joked.

"Well, let's go Marco; we have to get to English. I want to hear your paper," I said

"What paper?" he asked.

"You were supposed to write a five page paper the life and famous works of an American author or poet of your choice," I reminded him.

"Oh, that paper, no sweat," Marco said dryly.

“You didn’t do it, did you?” I smirked at him, already knowing the answer to that. "Let's go," I said, dragging Marco by the hand. 

With that, we parted ways to our separate classrooms.


	16. Chapter 15: Tobias

**Chapter 15: Tobias**

The rest of the school day went by fairly quickly. I was dreading the end of the day because it meant that I would have to face Gerald again. But, I made a promise to Shayla, and I don't break promises. Before I could go receive my punishment, Chapman called me into his office.

"This letter came for you last week. I wasn't sure how I was going to be able to get a hold of you. It's from a lawyer named DeGroot. He says that he's the holder of your father's estate. Also, there's a young woman looking for you. She's your cousin, Aria. DeGroot will inform you more about her at the meeting I scheduled for you at 6 o'clock tonight," he explained.

"Thank you Mr. Chapman. I'll keep that in mind," I said as I left his office. When I stepped out, Shayla was standing there. "Did you hear all that?"

"Yes, what are you going to do?" she asked.

"I'm going to have to go. If I don't, Chapman will find out about it. But I won't go alone," I said.

At that moment, I saw Jake, Rachel, Cassie, and Marco walking down the hall towards us.

"What's going on?" I demanded. I was looking directly at Shayla.

"Just a little surprise I planned," she said, smiling, "You decided to come along, Jake?"

"Yeah, I have to keep Marco out of trouble. He's bound to be hit by Rachel I estimate at least ten times while he's there. I have to protect the little amount of brain he has left," he said.

"So, what's going on?" I repeated. I looked over at Rachel who was bouncing up and down.

"We're taking you to the mall," she squealed.

"Why?"

"You need some new clothes. You can't keep borrowing Jake's," Rachel replied.

"I borrowed this one pair," I countered.

"Plus, your clothes are from two years ago. You've obviously grown. Everyone's reactions at lunch when you stood up to face Gerald said all that. There's no way the clothes you have packed are going to fit you anymore," Shayla said.

"So, this is just an excuse for you and Rachel to take me shopping?" I asked.

"No Tobias. This is for you. Whatever you want to do, we can do. As long as it's at the mall," Rachel replied.

"Well, now we have an even shorter amount of time than I planned," Shayla said.

"Why?" Cassie asked.

"I'll explain on the way. We have some business to discuss," I replied.

"Then perhaps we should get Ax?" Jake suggested.

"Oh my God! I forgot about Ax. He's going to kill me."

"Well then, let's get going," Jake said.

We walked out of school. We were about a block away from school, and only a few meters from the bush where I left by backpack, when Gerald showed up.

"I told you I'd get you, new boy. Let's do this, right here, right now," Gerald threatened.

"Tobias, you promised," Shayla pleaded.

"I know," I replied.

I really didn't want to fight him, but maybe there was a slim chance that I could beat Gerald. Marco and Jake were physically holding Rachel back from running towards Gerald to pound him. Shayla and Cassie just stood there, with looks of concern on their faces. I swear, maybe Shayla and Cassie were twins.

"I really don't want to fight you," I told him.

"Too late for that. You should've thought of that before," Gerald said.

He made a swing towards me but I had seen it coming way earlier. I easily dodged his punch. See, those two years fighting Hork-Bajir and Taxxons were paying off. Gerald was as predictable as a Hork-Bajir. I didn't need my powers. I could fight without them. I took my first punch and hit Gerald square in the face. My next punch hit his abdomen. He stumbled to the ground, gasping for air. With two punches, he went down. I guess Gerald wasn't so tough after all, or maybe he didn't expect me to fight back.

"Remember this next time you decide to pick a fight with me," I said. Then I walked away from him and back towards the group.

"Way to go, Bird-boy!" Marco, of course.

"Wow. That was amazing," Cassie said, "although, I wish you wouldn't have had to fight."

"So do I Cassie, so do I," I said, "but sometimes, there's no option. You have to defend yourself."

"Thank you for keeping your promise Tobias," Shayla said, standing off in the background.

"I never break promises. Besides, he was too easy. I could see it in his eyes. Gerald's all talk."

"I guess he'll leave you alone now, huh?" Jake asked.

"I hope so," I said.

We walked over to the bush, I picked up my pack, and we walked towards the woods to Ax's scoop.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 16:**

While we were walking to Ax's scoop, I told Jake, Rachel, Marco, and Cassie about the meeting with DeGroot.

"I don’t like this. There’s something fishy going on with this meeting," Jake said.

“When does something involving the Yeerks not sound fishy?” Rachel asked.

“You know, she has a point there,” Marco added.

“So, what should I do? Not attend the meeting?” I asked.

“No, you can’t avoid the meeting. That’ll just make the Yeerks more suspicious,” Jake countered.

"In the meantime, what will the rest of us be doing?" Marco asked.

"We will be spread out along the block. One of us will be morphed onto Tobias, then no one goes out of thought-speak range," Jake said.

"And who gets to be the lucky Animorph along for the ride?" Marco asked, ultimately regretting he did.

"I'll go," Rachel volunteered.

"Surprise, surprise," Marco quipped.

"No Rachel, not this time. We need your grizzly morph in case this is a trap," Jake concluded.

"Lucky," Marco said under his breath. Jake must've heard it.

"You're out too Marco. Same applies for your gorilla morph."

"All right."

"I could do it," Shayla pointed out. “I mean, I probably shouldn’t be too visible, since until now there’s only been six ‘Andalite bandits’.”

"Do you have anything small enough?" Cassie asked.

Shayla shook her head. “No, but I’m sure it wouldn’t be too difficult to acquire something between now and six o’clock.”

“But how do we know we can trust you?” Jake argued once again.

Rachel mumbled under her breath. “Here we go again.”

“If we can verify Shayla’s morphing ability after we meet with Ax, then will you trust her, at least for now, since whatever this meeting is about may affect Shayla as well?” I inquired on Shayla’s behalf.

Jake nodded. “Very well. Once we introduce Shayla to Ax, we can try to verify her story, and if it proves she’s telling the truth, then she can ‘ride shotgun’ for tonight’s mission.”

"Then it's settled," Rachel finished.

By the time we reached Ax's scoop we had our plan figured out. When we reached Ax's scoop, I realized our dilemma.

"Jake, does Shayla come in or does she stay out here?" I asked.

"She should probably stay out here for now. We don't know how Ax is going to react to her," he explained.

"It's okay, I understand," Shayla agreed.

The rest of us walked inside. Ax looked a little upset.

_((Tobias, there you are. Where have you been? We were supposed to watch ‘These Messages’ together, remember?))_

“I'm sorry Ax,” I started, “I've kind of been through an interesting day. I was at school all day with the rest of the Animorphs. I'm human again and I can still morph.”

_((Prove it,))_

“Yes,” a voice from behind me said, “let’s end this dispute now.”

I turned around and there stood Shayla, standing patiently at the doorstep. Unfortunately, I was unable to stop Ax from lunging his tail-blade towards Shayla’s throat. Fortunately for her, Shayla was able to read Ax’s mind and anticipate his movements. She dodged his blow and rolled out of the way while standing up behind me.

“Shayla, calm down. We told you to wait outside,” I scolded.

“I got tired of waiting, besides if you’re going to test out your morphing powers, I might as well show them mine,” she explained.

“And Ax, relax a little bit. Shayla is the reason for my interesting day today. I was just informed today that Shayla is my sister,” I continued.

_((Your sister? Are you certain?))_

“We can’t prove it by blood analysis, but I believe the source who told us,” Shayla said.

_((And who was this source?))_

“The Ellimist, who else,” Marco spoke up, then addressed Shayla, “Don’t be so quick to trust the Ellimist. You will quickly find that his ‘interference to the point of non-interference’ extremely infuriating.”

_((Why would you trust anything the Ellimist tells you, Tobias? You know he only manipulates us to suit his own goals.))_

“It wasn’t so much about the Ellimist. I wish I could explain this better, but I followed my instincts, which I will always place above anything the Ellimist could promise us,” I tried to defend my position. “And my gut tells me that everything that’s happened, not matter how unbelievable it may seem now, is completely true.”

“Tobias and I are twins. We were separated from each other at birth. The Ellimist reunited us in order to transfer some inherent abilities from our mother that I have possessed, including a morphing ability that isn’t restricted by a two-hour time limit,” Shayla explained.

_((If you wish to know the truth, I can perform the blood test here in my scoop.))_

“How?” Jake asked.

_((I just need a sample of both Shayla and Tobias’ blood to do the analysis. I have the equipment over here.))_

“And how is it that you just happen to have this equipment lying around?” Marco asked.

_((I found the components at a local electronic store. It is quite primitive by Andalite standards, but you never know when it might come in handy,))_ Ax explained.

“I'm willing to be tested, if this will prove that we’re related,” Shayla said.

“I don’t need a test to tell you that this is the truth, but if it’ll put everyone’s mind at ease, then I’ll do it as well,” I countered.

_((Very well, this will take but a moment.))_

Ax went over to an area of his scoop and came back with an interesting instrument. It looked like a gun, but had a conic shape at one end of the long, cylindrical tube. On the opposite end of the device was a test tube. In the middle of the device were two holes with red and green dots on both sides of each hole.

_((Who will go first?))_

“I will,” I volunteered.

Ax walked up to me and placed the device on my arm. I felt a needle prick and the blood was collected moments later.

_((Shayla, your turn.))_

“Fire away,” she replied.

Ax repeated the same process.

_((Now, I will place the two test tubes in the holes in the middle of the_ therdak filt _. It will take five minutes for the blood to be analyzed. If the two blood samples match, both of the lights will be green. If they aren’t matches, the red will be lit up. We must be patient.))_

“In the meantime, why don’t we end the agony that’s plagued us all day,” Rachel remarked.

“Yes, let’s find out the truth,” Jake replied.

“Very well, what would you like me to morph?” Shayla asked.

_((Both of you do your raptor morphs, then I am going to ask Tobias to morph something from else from his human form.))_

“Why Ax?” Marco asked.

_((To see if he has retained all of his morphs from when he was trapped.))_

“Very well, let’s proceed,” Shayla said.

Shayla and I stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by the rest of the Animorphs. We both started changing at the same time. I started out with my nose and mouth forming into a beak, then my arms became itchy as feathers formed on my pink flesh, next I began to shrink to a quarter of my size. As this was occurring, my eyesight and hearing sharpened once again (I was trying to keep my enhanced senses tuned down at the moment, otherwise the others would know there was something seriously different about me) and in moments I was in my former body again. I heard exasperating cries from my friends, but mostly because Shayla had imitated the exact same changes as me, except for two differences – one, her morph was a merlin, and two, her clothes weren’t lying on a pile on the floor like mine.

“How did you do that?” Cassie demanded.

_((It took a few years to perfect. Actually, it seems kind of silly right now,))_ she said.

“What does? You are going to tell us how right?” Rachel interjected.

_((Of course, except for I don’t know how to make it work for Andalites yet. In order to find out for Ax, I would have to morph him. And even then it could take a few years.))_

“So, don’t keep us in suspense, tell us already,” Marco shouted.

_((It’s a two-fold process,))_ she began as she started morphing back to her normal self with her clothes still intact, and not in shreds on the floor, “First, you have to picture the animal you’re morphing into wearing the clothes you have on down to the smallest detail, then, and this is the harder part, you have to override the animal’s instincts that wearing the clothing is the most natural thing in the world for them to be doing.”

“I'll have to try that sometime,” Cassie said.

_((Alright Tobias, morph something else.))_ Ax requested.

“Anything in particular?” I asked.

“Whatever you want to do,” Jake said.

“Okay, here it goes,” I said as I began the one morph that would be considered my battle morph -- Hork-Bajir. I was going to attempt Shayla’s morphing technique. In my mind, I pictured the Hork-Bajir wearing my black pants, black t-shirt, black leather jacket, and of course shoes. Then, I concentrated with all my might in trying to get the Hork-Bajir to realize that wearing clothes and shoes was perfectly natural. First, I started to grow taller, at an alarming rate. Next, my skin became dry, flaky, and hoarse, and blades sprouted out of my arms, legs, and head. I didn’t hear my clothes shredding. So far, so good. My feet started shifting into the T-rex form of claws. Then, I heard a popping and tearing noise. In a few moments, I was a Hork-Bajir and my clothes were still intact, but my shoes had been shredded by the Hork-Bajir’s massive toe-clawed feet.

“Well, it was good for a first attempt,” Rachel shrugged.

Shayla nodded in agreement. “Shoes are actually the hardest thing to conquer. The larger the animal, the harder it is to maintain.”

_((Can I change back now?))_ I asked.

_((Yes, Tobias. And hurry, the results of the blood analysis are almost ready.))_

I repeated the same process as before and again, my clothes stayed intact.

“Here Tobias,” Marco said as he handed me a spare set of shoes that everyone kept around in Ax’s scoop in case of emergencies.

“Thanks,” I replied, though it came out more gruffly than normal as my vocal cords hadn’t finished morphing back to human yet.

After I was my normal self again, I was swarmed with a bear hug from Rachel.

“I'm so happy for you,” she squealed.

“I told you there would be nothing to worry about,” I explained. “As I told you before, the Ellimist didn’t do anything. It’s like he was acting as a medium between the two of us.”

_((If the Ellimist didn’t give you back your morphing powers, who did?))_

“Shayla, when we transferred our abilities to each other earlier this morning in the woods,” I answered.

_((What abilities? What else do you possess?))_

**_((Telepathy.))_ ** I answered telepathically.  **_((Unlimited morphing ability. And a healing ability.))_ **

_((Fascinating. The analysis is complete. We should have our results in five of your seconds.))_

Five...four....three.....two.......one..........and.............

Beep. Beep.

Two green dots appeared on the device.

_((As the results show, the blood analysis matches each other. Tobias and Shayla are, indeed, related. Whether or not they’re twins, this device cannot tell.))_

“That’s fine Ax. All we needed to know is whether we were related anyway,” Shayla said reassuringly.

“Yes, this is excellent news, Tobias,” Rachel said, congratulating me and my sister.

“Okay, Tobias,” Jake began, “as the test results show, Shayla is your sister. And, with the proof I've seen, I'm willing to give Shayla a chance of joining us. On a probationary basis. She will not go on missions alone. For the first two weeks, she will not leave my side during a mission. For the first month, you will only be allowed to go on missions with Tobias, Ax, and myself. After a month has passed, you will be off probation and an honorary member of the Animorphs. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Jake, and thank you,” Shayla said. Then she looked down at her watch. “Whoa. We need to get going. We have to get to the mall yet and get Tobias some clothes before his meeting at six. I’m still ‘riding shotgun’ right?”

Jake nodded his consent.

_((What meeting?))_ Axinquired.

“We’ll explain on the way, Ax,” Rachel said.

_((Can we get some Cinnabuns, please?))_

“Sure Ax, whatever you want,” Cassie replied.

_((Excellent.))_

“Of all the things on Earth to enjoy, he likes Cinnabuns the best. That’s a riot,” Shayla laughed.

“Just wait until you see him eat them. We still haven’t been able to control him and his eating when it comes to Cinnabuns yet,” Marco joked.

“I suggest we fly there,” I announced, “It will take a shorter amount of time.”

“Good idea Tobias,” Jake pronounced.

“Yeah, we can try Shayla’s technique,” Cassie added.

“Let’s go,” Shayla shouted.

We all morphed our bird of prey morphs. Cassie and Marco as ospreys, Rachel as a bald eagle, Jake as a peregrine falcon, Ax as a northern harrier, Shayla as a merlin, and myself, a red-tail. In five minutes, we demorphed outside the mall at the alleyway across the street. That’s where we usually held clothes for Ax and myself for when we had to meet the others for meetings or get-togethers at the mall. Then we demorphed. It felt good to demorph for a change. While all of us were almost completely demorphed, Ax was still in his Andalite form.

“Come on Ax, hurry up. Someone might come down that alley any minute,” Rachel urged him

Ax hesitated before approaching Shayla and I. While still in his Andalite form, he reached out and acquired us. He was adding us to the already combined DNA of Jake, Rachel, Cassie, and Marco. Then he proceeded to morph with the newly added DNA. Actually, I was kind of hoping he wouldn’t change too much. Too many high-ranking controllers have seen Ax in his human morph. Fortunately, the only things to occur were his hair darkened and his eye color changed from Rachel’s blue to Shayla’s bluish-gray.

“I've wanted to do that ever since you got your morphing powers back Tobias. I hope you weren’t offended, Shayla,” he said.

“Why would I be offended?” Shayla asked.

“We’ve kind of made it a policy to ask a sentient being before we acquire him or her,” Cassie explained.

“Oh, well then, I wasn’t offended. In fact, I made up a similar rule to that back when I was ten. It would seem a little strange to have two of one person walking around the children’s home at the same time. I actually feel honored, in a way. Who else but six other people in the entire universe can say they were used to create another human being?” Shayla explained.

“The scientists from Twins,” Marco joked.

“Funny, Marco, funny,” Shayla laughed. At least someone laughed at Marco’s dry humor.

“I never really thought about it that way before,” Rachel contemplated.

With that, we made our way to the entrance of the mall. As we reached the doors, the combination of the massive influx of thoughts coupled with my heightened senses caused me to collapse in sheer agony. As the blackness overtook me, I telepathically called out to Shayla,  **_((Help me!))_ **


End file.
